S2: Steven Universe (with a new Gem)
by IMC Librarian
Summary: You know the normal series, but here's many parts of it again, but with my custom character, an Emerald named William. (Rework in progress)
1. Table of Contents

IMC Librarian  
Story 2 **  
Steven Universe (with a new Gem)**

* * *

[CH1: Gem Glow]  
While searching for a corrupted Gem in the Amazon jungle, the Crystal Gems come across a male Gem. William, the last Emerald.

CH2: William helps around town  
Now that he lived in Beach City, William thought it best to help out.

[Emerald documentary]  
{Part 1: Species}  
 _WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE FIRST PAGE OF THE EMERALD DOCUMENTARY. LEARN ABOUT THE EMERALD RACE AS A SPECIES._

[CH3: The deal with shape-shifting]  
Amethyst is messing around with shape-shifting, but this gives William an idea.

[CH4: Bubble Buddies]  
During an unexplainable series of seismic tremors, Steven and William come across a girl the boy likes.

[CH5: Serious Steven]  
Steven's first mission with the Gems! With William acting as second-in-command, will Steven be left in his own tracks trying to keep up?

[CH6: Purple Puma]  
Amethyst in wrestling? Pearl doesn't like it. Perhaps William can do something about it.

[CH7: Steven's Lion (and William's discovery)]  
While Steven gets a pet lion from a mission in the desert, William uncovers how he was stranded on Earth in the first place.

[Emerald documentary]  
{Part 2: Technology}  
 _WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE SECOND PAGE OF THE EMERALD DOCUMENTARY. THIS TIME, WE COVER THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES OF THE EMERALD RACE._

[CH8: Fusion]  
As a result of William's mission style, Pearl and Amethyst appear to be getting along. Perhaps fusing has become easier for them because of it.

[CH9: Sword fighting disaster]  
William attends Pearl's first lesson in swordsmanship, but out of nowhere, things go awry.

[CH10: Located]  
William has finally located an Emerald Energy Reservoir. At the same time, Amethyst's gemstone is damaged. This mission now has two goals.

[CH11: Gem in the mirror]  
After Pearl gave Steven a mirror found at the Galaxy Warp, William inspects the mirror, and the Crystal Gems are surprised at what they find, or rather, WHO they find.

[CH12: Peridot]  
Steven says he saw something in the warp streams. Pearl thinks he's superstitious, until William supports Steven's claim with valid logic.

[CH13: Unexpected Fusion]  
Somehow, Steven has fused with Connie. For an Emerald, William is confused.

[CH14: Morlax]  
The remains of one Emerald, known as Morlax, were found on Earth. Perhaps one of William's replicated and enhanced abilities can restore him.

[Emerald documentary]  
{Part 3: Abilities and powers}  
 _WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE THIRD PAGE OF THE EMERALD DOCUMENTARY. IN THIS PART, WE LEARN ABOUT THE CAPABILITIES OF THE EMERALDS._

[CH15: Marble Madness]  
Larger versions of Peridot's Flask Robonoids have started dropping into Earth's atmosphere. They're here for a reason, and the only question is... What?

[CH16: Not the only one with swords]  
While inspecting the Freedom Shield Emerald starship for any unseen damages, William uncovers two Gems in the escape pod, liberated by the Emeralds so very long ago.

[CH17: The Message]  
A Wailing Stone has activated, but the signal is heavily corrupted. How will the Crystal Gems decrypt the message they're receiving?

[CH18: They're here]  
A Homeworld warship has entered Earth's atmosphere. Can William and the other Crystal Gems repel this potential prelude to a full-scale assault?

[CH19: Jail Break]  
William and the others have been captured! Can they break out, take over the ship, and return to Earth?

[Emerald documentary]  
{Part 4: Individuals of interest}  
 _WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE FOURTH PAGE OF THE EMERALD DOCUMENTARY. HERE, WE WILL COVER THE IMPORTANCE OF A SELECT FEW EMERALDS, INCLUDING WILLIAM HIMSELF._

[CH20: Keeping it together]  
William and the Crystal Gems have chased Peridot to the Facet 5 Prime Kindergarten. What was she doing there?

[CH21: Cry for Help]  
Peridot is attempting to send an SOS back to Homeworld, but her signal is interfering with worldwide frequencies.

[CH22: So close]  
The Crystal Gems have followed Peridot into an ancient Homeworld vessel. Can they survive the traps and bring her into custody?

[CH23: Questionable 'containment']  
Peridot is finally captured, but Steven presses for answers, leading to Peridot taking refuge in the bathroom.

[CH24: Recollection and discovery]  
While the rest of the Crystal Gems are out on a mission, Steven and William keep an eye on Peridot... until Steven asks about the Freedom Shield's crash-landing.

[CH25: Mechanized mishap]  
Pearl and Peridot argue about their positions on the team, but Steven proposes a contest to settle their differences. William decides to join in.

[CH26: Too Far]  
While scavenging for the materials and components the Gems need to drill into the Earth and take care of the Cluster, Peridot unknowingly hurts Amethyst's feelings. Thankfully, William accompanied them.

[CH27: Steven's Birthday]  
It's Steven's 13th birthday! The Emeralds may have studied human birthdays a long time ago, but William and Morlax are the first to actually participate in one.

[CH28: Old data, new plans]  
In order to drill to the Cluster, the Crystal Gems must acquire the necessary data from an abandoned Homeworld base on Earth's moon.

[CH29: Message Received]  
With the Homeworld communicator Peridot snatched from the moon base, William sends a deathly warning to Yellow Diamond, swearing revenge for the rest of his kind.

[CH30: Justice Emerald]  
In order for Peridot to willingly join and announced her full loyalty to the Crystal Gems, William must trust her enough to share his understanding through Fusion.

[Emerald documentary]  
{Part 5: Fusion}  
 _WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE FIFTH AND FINAL PAGE OF THE EMERALD DOCUMENTARY. WE SHALL COVER THE DIFFERENT RULES EMERALDS FOLLOW DURING FUSION._

[CH31: Gem Drill]  
The drill is complete! Now to reach the Cluster... but then what?

[CH32: Check on the team]  
With no threat looming over the horizon for the time being, William decides to check on the other Gems.

[CH33: Rubies come and go]  
The new planetary defense plasma cannon has just shot a Roaming Eye clear out of orbit! Why had it come here?

[CH34: Monster Reunion]  
Steven's healing power begins to reverse the corruption of the Centipeedle, but William and Morlax manage to finish the job.

[CH35: An unexpected arrival from within]  
From within the pocket dimension in Steven's lion's mane, an old friend of the Crystal Gem returns.

[CH36: Beta]  
In an attempt to cheer Amethyst up, Peridot offers to bring her, Steven, and William to the Facet 9 Beta Kindergarten to show her the differences it had with Facet 5.

[CH37: Double trouble, double it again]  
The Gems stumble upon Jasper in the Facet 9 Beta Kindergarten. What is she planning?

[CH38: A Diamond]  
Investigating an unusual signature, William draws the line, invoking Code E-18.

[CH39: Unwanted visitors]  
A few people around Beach City have gone missing, and William looks into it.

[CH40: An illusion discovered and revealed]  
The Crystal Gems learn the truth about Steven's mother, Rose Quartz.

 **UPCOMING CHAPTER**  
[CH41: Has the jury reached a verdict?]  
The planetary defense plasma cannon array has been destroyed! This could only be the work of Thavix, the Emerald who betrayed her own kind. She is on her way to Earth, accompanied by Yellow and Blue Diamond.


	2. CH1

S2-1  
 **Gem Glow**

* * *

Another average day for the Crystal Gems: defeating corrupted Gems, bubbling their gemstones, and sending them back to the Temple.  
This time, however, they were in for quite a surprise.

Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were exploring ancient human ruins in the Amazon jungle, looking for another corrupted Gem.  
Much to their surprise, the corrupted Gem was fighting another Gem... and losing!  
This Gem appeared to be male, which was completely unexpected.  
The lone Gem was using no weapon, but was instead using the environment to his advantage against the Gem mutant, which resembled a freaky cross between a monkey and a lobster.

As the mutant lunged at him, he jumped out of the way, leaving it to crash into a pillar. The pillar collapsed onto the mutant, causing enough damage to make it release its physical form and retreat into its gemstone.  
The Gem warrior approached the fallen mutant's gemstone before surrounding it in a light green bubble. Instead of sending it somewhere, he seemingly phased the gemstone into his own, like a sort of personal storage dimension.

With the mutant dealt with, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl carefully approached the victorious gem, fearing he might attack them. To their surprise, the Gem warrior only turned and waved at them with a friendly smile. "Well, hello there, I wasn't expecting any normal Gems around. So, who are you three?"  
"I'm Garnet, and these two are Pearl and Amethyst. We are the Crystal Gems."  
"The Crystal Gems, huh? You fight for this world?"  
Amethyst then answered excitedly. "Yeah we do!"

"Let me see your gem."  
"Alright, but what's this for?"  
The warrior held out his arm and showed his gemstone to Garnet. "An Emerald?! Those were thought to have become extinct thousands of years ago!"  
"I'm the last of my kind. Call me William."  
"Well, William, would you like to come back to the Temple with us?" Pearl offered.  
"Hmm. Alright."

After about an hour of searching through the jungle, the group found the Warp Pad, allowing them to go back to the Temple. William was prepared for an entire complex, but was caught off guard by a simple house interior.  
As William looked around, he spotted some strange centipede-like creatures. "What are these things?"  
"Centipeedles!" Garnet exclaimed.  
"An infestation, I presume?"  
"Yup!" Amethyst pulled out her whip and began attacking the big bugs.

After about thirteen minutes of taking out Centipeedles, someone came to the door of the house. "Hey, guys, you won't believe- Huh?"  
With their combined efforts, the gems had cleared out the Centipeedle infestation.  
Out of nowhere, Amethyst's gemstone flashed seven times, followed by William pulling out a green version of her whip, then storing it back in his own gemstone. Amethyst was unsure how to react to the sudden event of William copying her whip in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa! Who's this?"  
"Oh! Steven, this is William. We met him while we were out on a mission in the Amazon jungle." Pearl stated.  
"Yeah! He took down a gem mutant all by himself, and with no weapon!" Amethyst added, cheering.  
"We just cleared out a Centipeedle infestation, but because they didn't have gems, there must be a mother somewhere nearby." Garnet said.  
"Sounds to me like we have a new mission. Locate, isolate, neutralize." William added.

"Steven, we have a surprise for you. Why don't you look in the freezer?" Pearl suggested.  
Looking in the freezer, Steven awed. "No way.. It can't be! Where did you get these?! I thought they stopped making them!"  
"Well, we heard that too, and since they're your favorite, we went out and bought you a bunch."  
"It was my idea." Garnet said.  
"It was everyone's idea." Amethyst added, sitting on the counter as everyone gathered in the kitchen area.  
"Not really."

"Could someone explain to me what the heck this is about?!" William got the everyone's attention.  
"Steven really likes these treats." Pearl tossed him one.  
William opened the small package and took a bite of the ice cream sandwich inside. "Oh, wow, that... is good."  
"Steven's happy, and that's all that matters right now." Pearl dismissed the conversation.

Just then, Steven started singing. "Oohhhhh! He's a frozen treat with an all new taste! 'Cause he came to this planet from outer space! A refugee of an interstellar war! But now he's at your local grocery store! Cookie Cat! He's a pet for your tummy! Cookie Cat! He's super duper yummy! Cookie Cat! He left his family behind! Cookie Caaaaat! Now available at Gurgens off Route 109!" The song caused Pearl and Amethyst to laugh while Garnet clapped with a smile. "I can't thank you guys enough for this! I'm gonna save these forever... right after I eat this one." That ending statement caused William to snicker.

Steven opened the package and pulled out the treat. He took a small bite off the top of the ice cream sandwich. "Oh, so delicious... I like to eat the ears first."  
Just then, a pink glow came from his belly. "Hello!" William exclaimed in surprise, getting his attention.  
Steven looked down and saw the glow. "Huh? My gem?" He pulled up his shirt, revealing a gemstone where his belly button would be.

"Quick! Try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst exclaimed excitedly.  
"You mean you guys have never seen his weapon?"  
"I don't know how!" The glow began to fade. "Oh no... It's fading!"  
"Steven, calm down and focus!" William stated.  
Steven took a deep breath, then focused on his gem. "Don't force it. Let it happen on its own. Don't look for your weapon. Let it come to you."  
Suddenly, the glow of Steven's gem started to grow brighter and brighter until something formed from the light, a pink and white disk with a white equilateral triangle smack-dab in the center, with a thorned vine decorating it in the form of a spiral. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet gasped in surprise while William simply raised an eyebrow in slight intrigue.

"Well done, Steven. You may now see your weapon." Steven opened his eyes to what what was right in front of his gem. "Your weapon is a shield."  
"Oh, what?! A shield?!"  
"Yes. A shield. The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. The love you hold for others is what shall keep them safe, and this shield is the barrier you will put between your loved ones and those who dare cause them harm."  
Taking in William's words, Steven put down the Cookie Cat and took a hold of his shield, with stars in his eyes.

Suddenly, the group felt the ground shake as they saw Centipeedle silhouettes on the window rushing up, followed by gigantic Centipeedle shadow.  
"Hmm. Garnet, was that the Centipeedle mother you mentioned earlier?" William asked.  
"Only one way to find out. C'mon!"  
The group ran out the door, seeing a huge and hairy Centipeedle hanging on the front of the Temple.  
"That's the mother!" Garnet leaped up to attack the Centipeedle Queen, kicking the giant Centipeedle in the face, having little to no effect on the beast.  
Just then, it tried to chomp her. Garnet jumped all the way back down to the ground, followed by the Centipeedle mother itself. Steven, Garnet, pearl, Amethyst, and William attacked it as a team.

William caused Garnet's gems to flash, just like he did to Amethyst's gem, before forming green gauntlets as well as the whip.  
The Centipeedle mother spat a large stream of acid at them, causing the Gems to separate to avoid the acid. Steven used his shield to block the acid, protecting them.  
With the Centipeedle mother distracted, William lassoed its giant maw with his replicated whip, using his own strength to force it down, making it crash into the sand.

"Let's tether it down! Amethyst, you and I will strap it down with whips! Pearl, use your spears to anchor the whips into the ground!" William ordered.  
Amethyst lassoed her whip overtop the Centipeedle mother, followed by Pearl stabbing her spear into the handle, pinning it to the ground, jumping over the beast as William laid the other end of the whip on the ground to finish the first tether. This was repeated multiple times, holding the mutant down from in between the bulbous sections of its snake-like body structure.

The Centipeedle mother screeched and writhed, unable to break free. With the monster located and isolated, William used his left gauntlet to neutralize it, tearing out the gemstone in its eye, causing the physical form to instantaneously vanish in a cloud of smoke.  
"Garnet, care to finish the job?" William handed the gemstone to Garnet, who bubbled it and sent it to the Temple. "Mission accomplished. Good work, everyone. Steven, let me have a look at those Cookie Cats. If they've stopped making 'em, I think I can continue their production myself."

* * *

OK, so this is my new Steven Universe story, with a new main character added from my imagination.  
I'll put him in various episodes, but not every single one, that's a bit too much for me, concerning the fact that there's over **A HUNDRED WHOLE EPISODES!**  
Sorry, I just don't want to have to deal with literally everything.

So, I'll see you next time.


	3. CH2

S2-2  
 **William helps around town**

* * *

William was walking through Beach City, familiarizing himself with where everything was.  
Just then, he noticed a park nearby. A place called 'FunLand'.  
"Hello. Do you run this park?" William asked the man up front.  
"That I do. I'm the ride operator."  
"Nice. The place looks as kept up as a grandfather clock. Finely tuned as well."  
"Well, I try my best to keep this place going."  
"So what's your name?"  
"Mr Harold Smiley, that's my name. What about yourself?"  
"The name's William."  
"You one of those Crystal Gems? Haven't seen you around here."  
"That's because I just recently came here through the Warp Pad. Think I could help out around here?"  
"Sure thing. You can help me fix some of the arcade machines. This way" Mr Smiley lead William to a large building with loads upon loads of arcade machines.  
Nearly all of them were running properly. The ones that weren't working were the ones that needed fixing.

After almost thirteen minutes, William came back out of the arcade to tell Mr Smiley about his work. "The job is done. You can check the machines now."  
"I'll take a look at your handiwork. I'll bet they're beyond fixed now." He chuckled.

Just then, the sky turned red. "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Whatever was happening, it was new to him.  
He looked to the sky, seeing a giant red eyeball-like object approaching Earth. "What... the heck... is that?"  
A bright beam hit the object in its center, causing it to crack and shatter. One piece was about to hit the arcade, but he jumped in the way and used his replicated gauntlets to catch the chunk and throw it into the ocean. "That was close." He sighed as his gauntlets vanished.  
"Hey, William! That was absolutely extraordinary! You just saved the arcade! Now get down here and get your paycheck, plus a bonus!" Mr Smiley called to him.

William jumped off the arcade's roof and landed right in front of Mr Smiley. "Just doing what I feel is right."  
"I respect that, William. That's why I'm giving you a bonus."  
William looked through what he earned, seeing how much it was worth. "35. 40. 45. $50. Here's a tip for your honesty in letting me help out and respecting my sense of what's right." William gave Mr smiley a 5-dollar bill.  
"You're kind, William. I like that."

William then headed back to the Temple. "Hey, guys. What happened here?"  
"A Red Eye. We destroyed it." Garnet said.  
"Is that a Laser Light Cannon?!" Just then, the Laser Light Cannon flashed, like Amethyst and Garnet's gems earlier that day. "Got it. This should help."  
"What did you do?"  
"Let me put it in simple terms, Pearl. I copied the Laser Light Cannon into my gem so I could figure out the best way to use the copy myself. I already copied Amethyst's whip and Garnet's gauntlets, as you've seen today. I've never seen the inside of the Temple, but I need a place to put all the corrupted Gems I'm storing." William looked at the Crystal Temple.  
"Follow me."  
"Lead the way, Garnet."  
They went inside.

Garnet put her two gems to the door in the back of the house, a door William never really noticed. Inside was the Crystal Temple, a vast complex of rooms and chambers, creating a sort of huge maze which could turn a normal human brain to a pile of blubber.  
"What's this room?"  
"Look up."  
William looked up, seeing hundreds of bubbled gemstones. "Ahh, I see. I can drop off these corrupt gems here?"  
"Yes, you can."  
"Very well." William opened his personal storage dimension and allowed every single corrupted Gem he defeated and captured to float up with the others in the chamber. "Think that'll hold them?" He wondered, looking around the chamber.  
"It's the best we can do for them for now..." William felt the sadness in Garnet's voice.  
"Anyway, while you guys were busy with that Red Eye, I was helping out at the Beach City FunLand, even got paid 45$ for the work and for protecting it from the falling pieces of the Red Eye. I think this could help us with other stuff, what do you think?" William showed Garnet the dollar paycheck and the dollar bills he got as a bonus.  
"We could pay for some of the damages."  
"Then I'd tell Mr Smiley that I'd be working to pay for those damages. I'm sure he'd understand."

The Emerald headed out of the Temple to go back to the amusement park. "Mr Smiley?"  
"Ey, William! What can I do for you this time?" Mr Smiley closed the FunLand gates for the day.  
"I was hoping I could help out some more. You know how Beach City got damaged, right?"  
Mr Smiley looked over the craters all over the area before turning back to William. "Yeah, I saw that. What do you mean?"  
"Well, I was thinking I'd use the money I earn to pay for the damages."  
"You're very thoughtful, William, but maybe you should let me handle this. Use your money on something you want."  
"Very well. Repairs as planned."  
"Maybe something else."  
William thought about his options, then recalled a restaurant in Beach City. "OK. By the way, could I take a look at a map of Beach City?"  
"Yeah, I'm sure you can memorize the entire layout, knowin you Gems." Mr Smiley let William look at the map.  
He put his gemstone over the map and projected a green beam from it, seemingly scanning the map. "Image scanned and memorized. I'll see you later." As he left the amusement park, William headed back to the Temple.

* * *

So, how'd I do on this one?

I'll see you next time.


	4. E-D: 1

Emerald documentary  
Part 1: Species

* * *

Emeralds existed near the beginning of time, their physical appearances formless and unpredictable.  
After centuries of the first thoughts before history, the forms of the Emeralds took shape, humanoid shape. They discovered their own intelligent minds, allowing them to become a thriving civilization before humanity became a sentient species.  
Eons of building and inventing went by, but they still had a big question.  
What are they?

It was at some point in human history that the Emeralds found the answer to their ancient question.  
They were inspired by human individuality and decided to have names and their own preferences and likes. Unlike other Gems, Emeralds were able to be given assignments based on their preferences and were always given the chance to learn from their mistakes and try again.  
They were a peaceful race of galactic explorers, colonizing uninhabitable worlds and changing them so that they could sustain life.

At some point in time, Emeralds discovered the unimaginable amounts of pure energy within their gemstones, revealed to be countless times stronger than a black hole.  
Through many meditative sessions, they discovered that this energy stabilizes their physical forms and learned how to tap into this godlike power.

Many species feared the Emeralds for how strong they have become, only to find that they hold it all back because of their nature. They are nonaggressive and only attack if attacked, often being able to avoid a fight due to their amazing proposals for an alliance.  
They have a library on their home planet of Epsilon 7-B. This library was known as the Memory of Time, and it was said to hold all there is to know about every species in existence. Emeralds could simply copy this knowledge into their gemstones so they could immediately find what they need at any time.

They were like protectors for the good of life, only taking lives if need be and trying their best to take as few lives as possible when forced to kill sentient beings. They have no problem taking down crazy monsters, so they tend to use lethal force in order to eliminate any mindless beast threatening the sanctity of peace and harmony.

The Emeralds have adopted a strong sense of authority and justice from the humans, their republic was modern with the laws, rules, and jurisdictions set out by the Elders. This nation was called Arcodima, and the planet itself was said to be the closest to the center of the universe.

Despite the advances, the Emeralds lived in houses made from perfectly-shaped stone and brick surfaces, and even wood reinforced with a sort of clay.  
Emeralds have had quite a sense of history and have used common materials for many things.

Emeralds were known to have a "second mind" inhabit their very gemstones. This second mind can pull up memories to remind an Emerald of something important or simply communicate with the Emerald and other second minds. The second mind is said to be the living subconscious of an Emerald.

Emeralds are not restricted to a single physical form, but are able to create forms and use them as a backup if ruptured or as a more suitable body to blend in with a planet's dominant species.  
Due to their study of biology for any creature, Emeralds are capable of becoming an entire living being within any ecosystem, with every organ and bone included, but only when they use an invention known as synthetic particles.

Unlike other Gems, an Emerald's gemstone is not "anchored" to any spot on their physical form. Emeralds can relocate their gemstone with just a weak telepathic command.  
Some Emeralds tend to change a part of their artificial bone structure in order to hide their gemstone within their bodies.

The skin of an Emerald is actually, surprisingly enough, the same color as an average human being.

Due to their unbelievably quick thinking, they can think out complete and hyper-advanced blueprints in a matter of seconds.  
Their original physical form can be easily changed in an instant.

If an Emerald becomes corrupted, they become a massive risk to the safety of the universe. The unstable power of a terminally corrupt Emerald is capable of bending and manipulating time and space.  
An Emerald can only be saved from terminal corruption by a massive intake of Emerald energy, overcharging the corruption and effectively 'burning it out' of the Emerald.  
If terminally corrupt, the Emerald is lost and cannot be saved. Over time, corruption levels will rise if any corruption is present in an Emerald's gemstone. Emeralds are capable of suppressing the corruption in order to buy more time, but doing so puts a massive strain on the Emerald, weakening it over time. If terminally corrupt, an Emerald becomes a type of supernatural being with terrible powers.  
What was once an Emerald must be terminated as soon as possible in order to prevent universal eradication.

In some cases, an Emerald's mind manages to survive terminal corruption, describing the sensation as an 'unholy suffering' before uttering 'I can see everything.' in the ancient Emerald language and attacking.

If not yet terminally corrupt, an Emerald will begin hearing chants to 'give in to the corruption' in the ancient language.

* * *

I hope you found this interesting and informative.

I'll see you next time.


	5. CH3

S2-3  
 **The deal with shape-shifting**

* * *

As William walked back to the Temple after seemingly permanently fixing up one of the rides in FunLand, a strange vehicle passed by with a big head on top with an integrated speaker. "Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey!"

He decided to head over to the car wash as soon as he saw Steven there, along with a large man.  
As he ran over, Steven and the man were splashed with water. They looked to see a purple cat holding the end of a hose in its mouth. It started chasing them and splashing them until it stopped and glowed. The cat was revealed to be a shape-shifted Amethyst.  
"Ha ha! Got you guys!" "Amethyst!" Steven had stars in his eyes. "Uh... Pretty cool, Amethyst."  
"Really cool! I wish I could shape-shift like you!" "You could probably learn." "Really?" "Sure, you got a gem." Amethyst lifted Steven's shirt to reveal it. "Oop, magic stuff! Should I get out of here? Is there gonna be an explosion?" "Aw, it's no big deal, dad." Amethyst shape-shifted into Steven and went in the most unusual hunched over posture. "Yeah, it's fuuuun." Amethyst's form completely mortified Steven's dad.

After the two left the car wash, William decided to check up on Steven's father. "Hey, I saw what happened." "Aw jeez, you saw that?" "Yeah, don't worry, I'm with them. I'm an Emerald, call me William." "Alright, William. What do you need?" "Just checking up on you. That seemed like a horrible experience to you." "Yeah, Amethyst shape-shifting into my son right in front of me and doing... well, what you saw. Anyway, name's Greg, Greg Universe." "Glad to meet you, Mr Universe. I'll be on my way now. See you around."

Upon reaching the Temple, William saw Pearl walking out the door, clearly irritated about something.  
"Hey, Pearl. Something wrong?" "Huh? Oh, hi, William. Yeah, Amethyst is being obnoxious about shape-shifting." "Let me deal with her. I'll teach her a lesson she won't soon forget." "William, don't." William was actually pretty annoyed that Amethyst wasn't taking her abilities seriously, but decided to hold off on it until another time.

Just then, Steven ran outside to show his dad something.  
William headed in to talk to Amethyst about what she was messing around with. "Amethyst, take your abilities seriously. Don't make a joke out of them, that's not what they're for." "Alright." Well, that was quick and surprisingly easy. "OK, and just remember, I'll be watching you."

After about half an hour, Garnet came in. "Alright, Gems! We have a tectonic emergency! We have to go by sea to get to it!"  
William remembered how Amethyst was shape-shifting earlier and figured out how to finalize his replication of the Laser Light Cannon.

The Gem Sloop was docked by the beach, waiting for the Crystal Gems to go out to sea to accomplish what they need to do. Pearl, Garnet, and William got onboard, waiting for Amethyst to take care of what she was doing. As she came back to the boat, Steven came out and followed her. As Steven tried to swim to the boat, he yanked his hand out of the water, revealing some strange formations in the place of his fingers, which looked like cats. "What the- Steven, what happened?!" William demanded. "Uh... Cat fingers?" Steven revealed his cat fingers. William then came up with a suggestion. "Steven, cannonball! Try and ignore the cats!"  
The Gem Sloop floated away.

After about eight hours, the Crystal Gems reached their destination. They were to fight a living island.  
This would be a perfect time for William to try out his new weapon. His lower right arm shape-shifted into a smaller and green-colored Laser Light Cannon. The end of it started to glow brightly as the living island came out of hiding and attacked the Crystal Gems.  
Just then, a powerful beam of energy shot out of the arm cannon, completely annihilating the living island and reducing it to smoldering pebbles. "Well, that was surprisingly easy." William went back to the Gem Sloop, followed by the others after they gawked at what he had just done.

Upon returning to the beach, Pearl rushed over to Steven, who was sitting calmly on the suspended wooden platform's edge. "OK. Let's see if it worked."  
The cat fingers were gone. Steven smiled, basically saying he was OK. "Seems like William had the right idea." "Thank you, Pearl. Dinner's on me. I'm buying. Who's with me?"

* * *

There we go.

If you've watched the actual series, you know this one took place in the episode Cat Fingers.

Anyway, see you next time.


	6. CH4

S2-4  
 **Bubble Buddies**

* * *

Another day for William to look around, get a good feel of the town, maybe even help someone.  
Just then, he felt a tremor. He went back to the Temple to see if the gems knew what was going on. "Earthquakes aren't this frequent. Something's up." Pearl stated.  
At that point, Steven came down with a bike. "Nice bicycle, Steven. Although I'd put a little hotrod red in there." William commented.  
"Where you going with that?" Amethyst asked as Steven stood his bike up in the sand. "Oh, I'm just heading out for a ride." Steven walked away with his bike still on the beach. William followed him to make sure he didn't get into any kind of trouble.

After a while, Steven got on the bike and tried to ride it, but the sand made it difficult.  
Just then, he saw a girl over by the hill. He rode his bike over, got off, and folded out the bike's stand. "Some smooth ride." He said to himself out loud, then looked at the girl.  
"Heh, Steven's got himself an interest in someone." William whispered to himself from behind cover.  
"Five speeds. Handbrakes. Electric blue finish with a tiger bell." Steven rung the little bell on his bike, looking back at the girl. She was just reading a book in the shade, not even looking at him. "There are probably lots of kids who'd love to ride this bike- Whoa!" Steven, trying to sit back down the bike, fell over, collapsing the bike under him. The girl looked at what had just happened, causing Steven to blush slightly.  
Just then, he ran off, throwing down his helmet. "What the heck is wrong with him?" William wondered.

Steven ran back to the Temple. William looked back at the girl before following Steven. As he reached the Temple, Steven came back out, holding a light stick bracelet he kept in the freezer. He followed the boy back to the spot with the girl before another tremor occurred. A large rock fell from the hillside, causing Steven to go into a full on sprint. As he rushed to the girl to try and protect her, a large pink sphere surrounded the kids. The rock shattered upon impact with the bubble, scattering onto the surrounding area.

"Hey, Steven. What happened?!" William ran to the bubble. "I don't know! This has never happened before!" "So, who's your friend here?" William looked at the girl occupying the bubble with Steven. "I'm Connie. Who are you?" "I'm an Emerald. Call me William. Anyway, let me try and get you out of there." William formed his green gauntlets and punched the bubble into the wall of the hill, but the bubble didn't even have a scratch on it.

Suddenly, William's gauntlets started to crack and break apart. They shattered, leaving William to hold his hands in pain. "AH MAN! HOW DOES GARNET DO THIS STUFF?!" His hands turned red with bruises. "This is gonna ache till next week."

"So, got any other ideas?" Connie asked. "Yeah, I'll try something else. Just separate." Steven and Connie did so and watched as William's right arm morphed into a Laser Light Cannon. "AWESOME!" Steven had stars in his eyes again. "How'd he do that?"  
"I simply used shape-shifting to use my new weapon. I call this one the Plasma Buster." William's Plasma Buster built up a tremendous amount of energy before firing at the bubble with unimaginable accuracy, dead center of the sphere. The blast passed, only to reveal no damage to the bubble. The hill, however, was just completely caved out for about a mile.  
William dropped to his knees, his Plasma Buster changing back into his arm. His physical form glitched before his gem glowed, stabilizing his body. "William, are you OK?" "I'm fine, Connie. I just drained my own energy. I should be back to full capacity in about ten hours." William reformed a gauntlet and started pushing the bubble to the Temple, but the incline made it extremely hard for him to actually get it up there, so he decided to just think about this.

"Hey! I've got other friends who could help!" "Where to, Steven?" "To the Big Donut!" William brought Steven and Connie to the local donut store to see if Steven's friends could help them out.  
One of the two employees simply laughed while the other banged on the bubble with a hammer.  
"Steven, is this your magic love bubble? Are you in love?" The man was pressing his face against the bubble, getting on William's nerves. "That's Lars. He and Sadie run the Big Donut." "Not sure I like the way he's teasing you." Connie said.  
"I'm gonna try something else!" Sadie ran back inside the shop.

"Lars, William told me I had the power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all." Lars stopped teasing him and looked on in astonishment. "So there was something from which you had to protect her? Is that where this bubble came from?" "Yup!" "Huh." Lars stopped to think.

Steven turned back to Connie. "Anyway, this place sells the best donuts around. I pretty much come here everyday." "My parents don't let me eat donuts because they have trans-fats." Connie replied. "Wait... What!? Uh... Well, it's still a cool place to hang out."  
"I had a donut before. Nothing really happened, but it was pretty good." William added.

Just then, Sadie came back out with a wooden stool. She whacked the bubble with it, only for the stool to break into pieces, leaving no scratches on the bubble.  
"Uh... I have a better idea!" "Where to next, Steven?" "Beach City Pier." So William brought them to the Pier.

"Oh! There's a Trawler, and there's a Little Skipjack!" "You know a lot about boats." "That's what happens when you hang out at the beach, don't swim, and don't have friends. You look at boats."  
"Smooth... like sand paper." William commented.

"Oh, look! There's Onion! Hey, Onion!" There was a a strange boy whose skin was as white as Pearl's. He turned around with a bag of popcorn in hand and waved. "We need a harpoon gun!" "Hang on. What?!" Connie exclaimed. "It's to pop the bubble." "Can't we just go back to your house and get help there?" "It's OK. Onion, we need harpoon gun!"  
William spoke up. "I'll man the harpoon."  
He climbed onto a nearby boat, taking the helm of the large harpoon gun. Steven and Connie separated to the sides of the bubble before the harpoon launched. Unfortunately, it bounced off and hit another boat, causing it to sink.  
"The Trawler..."

"This time, I have an idea!" William was getting sick and tired of the failed attempts, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.  
He took Steven and Connie to FunLand. "Lots of horrible accidents have been happening here at FunLand, and I've been gradually rectifying the problems! There should be something I still haven't fixed yet."  
Just then, they heard a roller coaster. "The Kiddie Coaster! Of course!" William rushed up and put them next to the rails of the ride. "If this doesn't break that sphere, I don't know what will!"

Just then, another tremor occurred, shaking them onto the rails. They rolled down past a sleeping Mr Smiley, waking him up in surprise.  
Just then, the coaster came up and pushed the bubble the other way.  
As they passed Mr Smiley again, he pulled a lever to stop the ride, launching the bubble off the tracks and into the ocean.

William leaped and landed on the beach near where they fell in. He worried about what would become of them before seeing a sudden burst of air bubbles rise to the surface, followed by Steven and Connie, now free of the bubble.  
Just then, a big monster came out of the water, a gemstone in its big maw. It tried to attack the children, only to miss and send them on a tidal wave to the shore. They looked out at the ocean, seeing the creature still after them.

"Steven, Connie, use the rocks for cover!" The beast was focusing on Connie and ignoring Steven and William. "Why is it chasing her?!" "Steven, look at Connie's wrist!" "The bracelet. It eats bright stuff!" He figured it out.  
"Connie, the creature is attracted to your bracelet! Use it to lure the creature into tangling itself under the dock!" William commanded. "What!?" "Just trust me!" After some running and jumping, Connie came back out from under the wooden platform, leaving the beast tangled in its own coiled body around the support beams. It screeched at the three as it tried to crawl closer to them, only for the platform to lose the support beams and collapse on it, destroying it.  
Just then, the rest of the Crystal Gems came to see what happened. Steven stood by Connie's side, holding her hand.  
"Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, another mutant Gem has been neutralized." William reported.

"That was... incredible!" "Huh? Really?" Connie nodded at Steven.

Garnet rushed over, bubbled the fallen gemstone, and sent it back to the Temple. "That takes care of the source of those seismic tremors."  
Just then, Amethyst came over Steven's shoulder, followed by Pearl. "Is this that girl you were so interested in?" "Steven was so excited to meet you." Thankfully, Garnet came and put a stop to their teasing. "Hey! No messing with his funky flow!" She picked up Pearl and Amethyst before carrying them away.  
"What does she mean by 'funky flow'?" Steven was getting beyond nervously embarrassed. "I'd say he's fallen head over heels for you, Connie." "Really? He likes me that much?" "Yeah, I'd say it's pretty obvious if you look closely enough. He's fallen in love."  
Steven suddenly fainted from emotional trauma. "He'll be OK. Just gotta give him time." William picked up Steven and carried him back to the Temple.

* * *

Well, that's this one done. Finally.  
Had to really integrate William into the official episode to make this one.

With that being said, see you next time.


	7. CH5

S2-5  
 **Serious Steven**

* * *

As William was fixing the Teacups ride after a horrible disaster, he estimated how long it would take. It's been three days and he hasn't even left at night, which concerned Mr Smiley.  
"Hey. Uh... William, you're gonna take a break, right?" "NOPE! Not stopping until the job is done!" "Just... take a break for the night. It's not healthy to work non-stop for multiple consecutive days." "Don't care! Gotta get this done!" William didn't even look at him as he talked.

A couple weeks after the incident, the Crystal Gems were heading to a new location. William was there too, floating in a meditating monk position.  
Steven was excited as ever about coming along on this mission. "Alright, Steven. This is going to be your first serious mission. Are you ready?" Pearl asked. "Ready!"  
"Steven, remember what I taught you about how to summon your shield?" William asked. "Calm down and focus. Don't force it, let it happen on its own. Don't look for your weapon, let it come to you." "That's right. Remember that. Not everything is fun and games. Once we get back home, you can relax and have fun." Eventually, the warp stream vanished, leaving the Crystal Gems in a strawberry field littered with large weapons.

"According to Garnet's intel, there should be an active gemstone in this area. Our mission is to locate it, isolate it, and neutralize it. Any questions?" William asked.  
Nothing.  
"Good. Garnet, you take point." Garnet lead the way.  
William decided to replicate Pearl's weapon as they walked. She noticed the flashing from her gem and looked back at the Emerald, who was now holding a green version of her spear. "Just in case. You never know, right?" He had a good point, no pun intended.

As the group walked, they saw more scattered weapons and an extraordinary abundance of strawberry bushes. "Unbelievable! This was once a Gem battlefield, and now there's wild strawberries everywhere! Oh, that's what I love about the Earth!" "So you love this planet just for the strawberries?" "Uh... No, sorry, wrong choice of words." "Happens to the best of us. I'm thinking of making a greenhouse in or near Beach City. What do you think?" "Environmentally friendly. I'm sure they'd enjoy it."

"We're here." Garnet stated.  
They looked up, seeing an upside down pyramid. Garnet summoned a very small pyramid-like item and put it in the hole on the giant structure. A door magically appeared where the hole had been. The group walked inside, weapons stowed.  
"Huh. Gem hieroglyphics." William raised his arm into the air before his gem glowed in an unusual way. A large beam was suddenly projected from it, as if scanning the hieroglyphics on the walls of the chamber.

Steven examined a small artifact in the very center of the chamber. "Hey, there's a floating pyramid here." "According to the hieroglyphics, flipping the central pyramid will reverse the gravity within this structure, bringing us to the central chamber, where we will be faced by deadly trials." William rotated the pyramid, causing some sort of tremor in the temple. "It may be a trap, but it's also our best bet of getting to that gemstone."

Gravity reversed, sending the group through a chute into another chamber.  
As Garnet and William looked back through the chute, a hatch closed on it.  
Suddenly, a line of torches spontaneously lit in a circle, lighting the chamber, which held multiple passages. "Looks like we have to have to split up." "Good idea, Amethyst. We'll cover more ground that way." William then projected a holographic compass from his gemstone. "You and Pearl head down the northeast hall. Steven, Garnet, and I will try the west corridor. Any objections?" Everyone gave him a thumbs-up, approving of his plan. "Let's move."

Steven, Garnet, and William headed down the hallway, only for a door to close behind them, catching the trio by surprise.  
Various panels of the floor started to glow an icy blue. "We need to stay on the glowing panels." Garnet stated.  
William simply jumped the entire chamber and landed next to the door, and on a glowing panel. "You're up, Steven!" Steven played a serious game of hopscotch, ending up on the same panel as William. "Nice job." "Thanks, William!"  
Just then, as Garnet reached the other side, another tremor occurred. "Down on one knee! Keep your balance stable!" Everyone took a knee, maintaining their stability as the shaking ceased, opening the door to the next chamber, which closed just behind them as they entered, followed by another tremor. Steven didn't seem to be having a good time during the shakedown. "You OK, Steven?" "Yeah. Yeah, I'm OK. Let's keep going. Maybe there's a clue hidden in these... What were they called, William?" "Hieroglyphics?" "Right. There could be a clue hidden in the high-roll-gliff-icks. It looks like this room has... a spike trap or something." William grabbed Steven's wrist, preventing him from accidentally triggering something. "Steven, you might set off the trap you just mentioned. Be careful."

The next door opened, allowing them to proceed.  
This room was absolutely crazy. Swinging axes, lava traps, spiked pulverizers, and fire machines. It was then that another tremor hit.  
"Steven, I need your shield." William requested. Steven focused his will on his gem, summoning his shield. William took the shield and handed it to Garnet. "Use this to protect us from the lava and fire traps."  
Garnet hopped to the closest lava trap, followed by William using his gauntlets to hold the swinging blades open, allowing Steven to proceed safely, taking refuge under his own shield.  
William then passed them, wedging himself under a spiked smasher, clearing the path further onward.  
This was repeated all the way to the end, where Garnet returned Steven's shield.  
"Nicely done, William. Maybe I could step down and let you take up the role as leader." "That position is yours, Garnet. I won't take it from you."

They left the room, only to find themselves in the central chamber from before the glowing panels. "It brought us back to the beginning?!" William exclaimed in confusion.

"Steven, Garnet, William, there you are! This place makes no sense! Three deadly trial chambers, and for what?! They all bring you back here!" Pearl came out of another corridor. Amethyst came out of a different path, seemingly going crazy. "GET ME OUTTA HERE!" She went running into another path.  
"We entered the northeast hallway, just like you ordered, and went through three consecutive rooms in a straight line-" They saw Amethyst yank a bear trap off her head and go into another pathway. "...but we were brought back here through the southernmost door. Before the hatch between the chambers opens and after it closes, we feel a seismic tremor, followed by a sense of nausea." Amethyst slid in through another passage, frozen in a block of ice. Pearl tried to use her spear to get Amethyst out of the ice.

William thought about this, then put his hand on the floor. A green ripple quaked from his gem before returning to him. "I think I figured it out. All the trial chambers are on a network of rotating gears, which means we're being turned back around, and it looks like there's another chamber just under our feet, but with no pre-existing access point."  
Garnet formed her gauntlets and began punching the floor.  
Just then, the ground shattered. Everyone landed on a small pyramid-like platform, and Amethyst was broken out of the ice.

"William was right! This Gem-powered mechanism is manipulating the rooms above, spinning every trial room we enter until we end up back at the central chamber!" Pearl projected a detailed hologram to show what she was talking about.  
"Look!" Garnet pointed at the center of the final chamber, where an obelisk stood. "The gemstone! Steven, we've located the Gem. Isolate and neutralize it!" William lobbed Steven straight into the center of the room, hurdling towards the mechanism controlling everything. He grabbed on and pried at the gemstone, trying to remove it.  
Just then, the obelisk rotated again, followed by the gem glowing and detaching, which caused Steven to fall to the floor. Everything stopped, confusing the Gems, and then it was all being absorbed into the recovered gemstone.

Suddenly, the pyramid temple exploded, sending the Crystal Gems falling into the strawberry bushes all over the area.  
"Crystal Gems, gather 'round!" William called out, brushing himself off.  
Eventually, the others arrived at his location, with Steven holding the gemstone. "Pearl, care to do the honors?" Steven asked, holding the gemstone to Pearl, who bubbled it and sent it back to the Crystal Temple. "Your first mission, and it was a very successful one." "Yeah, nice job, Steven." Amethyst congratulated him. "All in a day's work!"  
With that, the Gems headed back to the Warp Pad to go back home.

Later that day, William planted some strawberry seeds beside the Crystal Temple and watered them. They were carefully placed so that they would get lots of sunlight and water from the nearby ocean.

* * *

Well, guys, how about that?  
William's planted some strawberries. He cares about the environment, and has planted fruit seeds because of this.

I'll see you next time.


	8. CH6

S2-6  
 **Purple Puma**

* * *

William was meditating on the top of the Beach City Lighthouse, his gem projecting a strange pulsating orb of pure energy. As he meditated, the orb smoothed out and calmed.  
Just then, he felt a massive disturbance somewhere, causing the orb of energy to ripple and get all rough and bumpy.  
Jumping down from the lighthouse to the beach below the cliff, he heard the Warp Gate activate.

"Punching a blood polyp may not have been such a great idea." "Really?" Pearl replied sarcastically. "Yeah, some of that muck got in my eye. It stings." "Well, we should be thankful Steven had his shield out, otherwise he'd have been covered in the stuff." "He's got good reflexes." "That may be true, but you need to be more careful sometimes." "Right. It's like William told me. Every action you take has a consequence." "Well, he's right." "I think I'll turn in for the night. It's getting pretty late in the afternoon." "The sun's getting real low, so go ahead."

That night, William was visited by Garnet, who wasn't wearing her shades. She looked at the hologram projected from his gem. "So, what is that?" "That's the combination of my energy, my soul, and my mind. Basically, that's me." His head was between his knees. "It's broken." "Broken?!" William looked at the sphere, seeing black cracks on the side of it. "What's going on, William?" "Before I met any of you, I was... corrupted. I've been fighting it off for so long, but I think I'm starting to lose my grip."

The next day, William went back to the Temple. Upon entry, William was greeted by Pearl, who was looking through the fridge for something to make for Steven. "Hi, William." "Hey, Pearl." "Garnet told me about your... ailment. If you've been fighting back the corruption for centuries, then you must have a strong spirit, but... that's not looking so good." Pearl saw a strange black substance extending out of William's gem. He looked at his arm, seeing what was spreading over it. "That's new. I don't know, Pearl. I think that might be a side effect." "I see."

Later that night, William was on his way to the electronics store when he came across a strange event going on in an old building. A wrestling event was going on inside the place.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, fans of wrestling, welcome... to the Wrestle-Brawl Championship!" After that, there was a lot of clamoring from inside the building. William decided to scope it out. "In the ring tonight, he's stomped his way through the tournament and into our hearts! Give it up, y'all! Give it up for Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt! Only one thing would make this man look better, folks. The Championship belt, but standing in his way, the ruthless king of the jungle, he'll eat your kids and fire your parents! Ooh, yes, it can only be... the Purple Puma!"

Just as William recognized the Purple Puma as a shape-shifted Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet showed up. He decided to join up with them. "What are you doing here?!" "What are WE doing? What is this?" Pearl showed them a handdrawn flyer of the Purple Puma.  
"Looks like we have some new opponents!" "No, you don't! This match is canceled!" Pearl pushed away Mr Smiley's microphone. Her words caused a ruckus among the audience. "I can't believe you've been sneaking off to this... circus of violence! Using your Gem powers on humans? What were you thinking?! Of all the things I would've expected from you, this is not one of them, and I won't tolerate it!" "Everyone needs a hobby." Amethyst had a point, but unbeknownst to her, William was there. "We're not here to fight!" Pearl called out.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The audience called out.

"Pearl, Garnet, let me handle this." "She's all yours, William." Garnet stated.  
William took Mr Smiley's microphone and spoke into it. "Purple Puma, I challenge you! If you win, the Championship is yours! If I win, your wrestling career ends on this night! Do we have a deal?!" Amethyst roared out with a wide grin on her face, taking the challenge.

As Amethyst rushed in to punch William, he formed a green gauntlet and caught her fist.  
Just then, the sound of breaking bones could be heard as Amethyst screamed in pain. William was crushing her hand and wasn't letting go.  
As she tried to punch William in the face, he formed another gauntlet and caught the fist, then kicked Amethyst in the face, followed by the gut, knocking the wind out of her.  
Using his tremendous strength, William flipped Amethyst over him, landing her on her back. He went for the top rope, then jumped and slammed down on Amethyst, using the reflected momentum to land back on his feet, after which he jumped onto the middle rope to slingshot himself back into a smack down.  
Amethyst managed to get up, only to receive a hard roundhouse kick to the jaw, the impact expelling the saliva she had in her mouth into the air as she fell back down. She popped her jaw back into place as William delivered a pile driver, leaving Amethyst down for the count.  
William propped a foot on top of Amethyst, prompting Mr Smiley to begin the countdown. "One! Two! Three! Ladies and gentleman, tonight's champion of the year is...!" William took the microphone again, coming up with a name. "The Cosmic Leviathan!"

Later that morning, Pearl and Garnet visited William on the top of the lighthouse, seeing the corruption spreading further up his arm. "I'm gonna need to find a way to somehow remove this corruption if I'm gonna be able to actually help out better." He was looking to the horizon, where the sun had yet to become visible.  
William's gemstone flashed rapidly and made odd noises before he perked up. "Of course! Ancient Emerald tech still remains hidden on this planet! I might be able to find an E.E.R somewhere!" "What's an 'E.E.R'?" Pearl wondered. "E.E.R is an acronym. It stands for Emerald Energy Reservoir." His gemstone flashed and made noises again. "If I can absorb enough energy, I could burn the corruption out of my gem! Ah HA!" He figured it out! "Where are you gonna find one?" Garnet asked. "Rose Quartz helped us hide one in the first day of the war, before my kind was... wiped out..." His mood dropped as remembered the fate of the other Emeralds. "One thing's for sure, next time I see Yellow Diamond in person, I'm gonna make it so she suffers for what she's done." William has vowed his own life on his revenge as the sun began to show over the horizon.

* * *

How was that one?

So William was corrupted for centuries and found a way to burn it out of him, now all he needs to do is find an E.E.R and he'll be fine... if the E.E.R has enough energy in it.  
He only found out recently because it wasn't a priority at the moment. Because the corruption spread, William has taken this as a major priority.

I'll see you next time.


	9. CH7

S2-7  
 **Steven's Lion (and William's discovery)**

* * *

William was meditating in order to search the Earth for an E.E.R when Garnet jumped up to the top of the lighthouse to alert him of a new task. "William, there's a corrupted gem causing havoc in the desert, and we need to recover it." "Alright, I'll help out as best as I can. Time to-" "'Locate, isolate, and neutralize'. That's how you handle the corrupted Gems whenever they reek havoc."

Upon reaching the desert, William was baffled by the sheer amount of sand columns and pointless staircases. "So Garnet, any chance we could find an E.E.R here?" "I don't think so, William. Sorry."

After a while of walking, the Gems reached a safe spot. "It'll be safer if Steven stays here. The sandstorms here may not be harmful to Gems, but it seems as if they can get harsh enough to blow your skin off, and maybe even your muscles." William surmised. "OK, I'll stay here!"  
"Pearl, what have we got on the new corrupted?" William asked. "The power in this structure has turned aimless. It's building columns with no roofs, stairs that go nowhere, completely out of control." "Understood. Let's roll."

Just then, the Gems heard a roar. "What was that?!" Steven started looking around like crazy.  
"Steven, if anything tries to attack you out here, you can defend yourself with your shield." The Emerald joined the others.

"So, any plans on how to beat this thing?" "Try throwing me at it!" William formed his gauntlets, grabbed Amethyst, and fired his gauntlets like missiles. "NOT THE WAY I PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNED!"  
As one gauntlet carried Amethyst through the massive amount of sand defences, the other punched holes through the walls for Amethyst to safely pass through.  
She landed in the center of the sand anomaly, seeing a gemstone embedded in a strange pillow. Amethyst picked up the pillow, causing all the sand to fall apart and collapse.  
William, Pearl, and Garnet came up to Amethyst and saw her on her back, still holding the pillow. "Right. Mission accomplished. Now we should head back, pick up Steven, and get the heck out of here before I get sand in places I don't want to talk about." William caused laughter from the other Gems, Garnet included. "Amethyst, let's see your bubble." "My kill, my keep." "If that's the case, maybe you can keep it on a trophy shelf in your room... provided you don't have any sand in there." "That there is a good idea, and I like it."

William then saw Steven with a strange lion. "Is that... a pink lion?" He wondered. "Looks like it." Amethyst added.  
He approached the lion to examine it. "Hmm... Looks domesticated. No ID tags... Could be a stray animal looking for a home." "Can we keep him?" Steven asked. "Why not? We'll take care of him." William's words made Pearl scoff at him, which drew his attention, as his head turned so he was looking over his own shoulder at her. "Pearl, calm down. I know what I'm doing."

Later that day, William was out looking for abandoned Emerald tech caches hidden around the planet. Garnet accompanied him as he searched a canyon.  
"So, any ideas?" He asked. "I think we'll find something useful here."  
William's gemstone suddenly made a strange noise. "What's your gem doing?" "Not sure. This is new."  
Without warning, a pod faded into sight. "This looks like an Emerald starship escape pod, but what's it doing here?" William wiped away some dust. "Of course... This was the pod I used long ago." "William, what is that?" William stayed quiet as some memories came back to him. "I used this pod before the Emerald starship I fled in crashed. It was centuries ago." "An escape pod?" "If I recall correctly, the starship should be right over... here!" William guided Garnet through the canyon, finding an empty crater. His gem made the same noise from earlier, causing a crashed starship to uncloak.  
"My starship! Just the way I was forced to leave it..." "I think we should check it out." "I agree, Garnet. Let's see how extensive the damage is. I pretty much forgot how bad it is."

They entered the Emerald starship, seeing sparks flying everywhere, and cables dangling from the walls and ceilings.  
"This place is completely trashed. Let's hope the emergency provisions are still here." "Emergency provisions?" "If I can get the computer back up and running, I can find out if there's anything to help with this." William pointed to the black substance spreading from his gemstone. "Fair enough."

After a while of looking, William and Garnet managed to find the control deck. Compared to the rest of the ship, the deck was in good condition, but that's not really saying much. "Well hey, the computer's still active." William examined the control terminal.  
Suddenly, a computerized voice was heard from the console. " _That is correct, Emerald William. I would welcome you back with open arms, but I am in horrendous condition. I am running on emergency back-up power, kept up and running through solar energy. I have sent a Scout Drone to assist you upon finding one that still functions. Initial deployment time: 2,971 years after escape pod launch._ " "Sorry I took so long, but I forgot how I got here exactly. Anyway, I need some help with this." William showed the computer AI the corruption stemming from his gemstone. " _Oh dear. I was not expecting this. There are provisions designed to counteract the corruption, and they are in the container to your left._ " William opened said container and found a single vial of anti-corruption serum. He drank the liquid, causing the black substance on his arm to almost completely recede, leaving a few strands of it still lingering. " _Scans indicate that the provision was insufficient. Recalling Scout Drone. Bring it with you and I will be able to help you at any location._ " "Got it, Freedom Shield. I'm sorry about not being able to do anything to help your condition." " _No need to worry. I will search for usable Salvage Recovery Drones and Maintenance Drones to recover the lost pieces of my hull and superstructure and repair myself. I have already found one of each mechanoid. Launching now._ " The computer terminal went on standby as a few machines appeared on the outside of the ship.  
The terminal displayed a message.

ESTIMATED TIME OF REPAIR  
1Y 7M

Later that day, William and Garnet came back to the Temple with the Scout Drone from William's starship. "Now that the Freedom Shield is being repaired, we can begin expanding our operations, enabling more effective defense of Earth and its inhabitants."

Just then, he saw Amethyst under a fort of couch cushions. William pinched Amethyst's nose closed, disrupting her sleep, and causing Amethyst's arms and legs to flail everywhere like a crazy octopus. "Wakey wakey, sleepy head." "William, please don't do that again." "It's not even 7:00 PM yet."

William headed outside to check on his grow bed, only to see the pink lion sitting on the porch deck, as if it were a watch dog. "Uh... OK? Hi?" William then shape-shifted his left arm into a fishing pole, cast the line, and reeled in a trout, then tossed it to the lion, who caught it in its mouth.

Without warning, William's right arm burned. He looked at it, seeing that the black substance on his arm had begun to glow orange, spreading to his shoulder. "I don't have much time left..."

That night, William headed back to the canyon where the Freedom Shield was crashed to check back with its AI.  
" _Welcome back, Emerald William. What do you require?_ " "Is the planetary localization system operational?" " _Not entirely. However, I have information on the location of an E.E.R._ " "Really?" " _Yes. According to record, it is located at Rose Quartz's Healing Spring._ " "We're gonna need to find that place in order to get there."

* * *

Finally got this one done.

Well, now William's in even worse condition, but the conversation with the AI exposes a massive hint to when he's gonna be fixed up: the episode 'An Indirect Kiss'.

That one should be interesting when I make it.

Anyway, I will see you all next time.


	10. E-D: 2

Emerald documentary  
Part 2: Technology

* * *

Emeralds are capable of countless technological advances and amazing evolutionary accomplishments.  
Such mechanical engineering amazements include:

 **E.E.R ( _Emerald Energy Reservoir_ )**  
Emerald power container capable of holding approximately 500,000,000,000,000 gigawatts of energy. Nearly indestructible due to nano-reinforced casing. Used to hold the energy of the Emeralds for later use. Despite being capable of holding so much power, the Reservoir is nearly the size of a normal lunchbox and weighs about as much as a bunch of bananas. Vaguely resembles an electrical coil around a thermos with a handle on top and three evenly spaced-out stand legs measuring five inches each.

 **Warp Gate**  
Structure made out of the same material as the Warp Pads, engineered to be able to transwarp Emerald starships to far off planets somewhere in the universe. It should be known that the portals they make are two-way.

 **Emerald emergency medical chamber  
** Built to heal Emeralds who have not replicated the healing abilities of Rose Quartz. Emeralds healed in these chambers have suffered nearly fatal wounds and have sustained damage to their gemstones. All damages are healed and Emeralds leave better than they were before.

 **Universal locator beacon**  
Emerald recall device which relays constant coordinates to the Emerald Warp Gate and allows for salvage recovery or the locations of Emerald colonies.

 **Emerald starship**  
Emerald space cruiser equipt to be able to completely eradicate black holes using polarity reversal pulsars. The starship also has an advanced supercomputer capable of acting as an autopilot and can monitor all systems and shows some level of concern for any troubled passengers or crew members, it understands them and watches over them using airborne Scout Drones made from the same material as an E.E.R. These starships also have emergency provisions capable of holding back various conditions, such as gemstone damage and even corruption, although they only help a small bit and can't completely get rid of the problem. For ease of creation and maintenance, all Emerald starships resemble the Transformers ship known as the Ark, but for unknown reasons, one resembles the Nemesis.

 **Planetary restoration machines**  
Amazing mechanical structures dropped from Emerald starships which resupply the planet it's dropped on with valuable nutrients and search for Homeworld Kindergarten facilities for Emeralds to tear down in order to repair the damages done to the planet.

Emeralds, despite being a race of peaceful beings, have made powerful weapons.  
Such weapons include:

 **Emerald pulse rifle**  
This weapon draws out energy from the Emerald wielding it, allowing it to cause devastating amounts of damage. However, this weapon can overheat and will explode if temperatures reach 7,000° Fahrenheit. (Resembles and fires like a Trace Rifle from Destiny 2)

 **Emerald plasma bomb**  
Deadly explosive weapon comprised entirely of Emerald energy. Due to the result of this weapons detonation, many other Gems have called it the 'Antimatter Grenade'.

 **Emerald starship precision laser cannons**  
Weapons attached to Emerald starships designed to eradicate any permanent hostility with no casualties, even in densely populated areas.

 **Laser Light Cannons**  
Given to the Emeralds by Rose Quartz only a few days before Yellow Diamond's attack on Epsilon 7-B.

 **Mechanos**  
William's mech created from Emerald tech caches around Earth, designed by William through inspiration from seeing the Titanfall 2 singleplayer trailer. The mech has the main body of a Vanguard, the arms of an Ion, and the legs of a Tone. It is powered by the same energy Emeralds produce and use. It is built with a custom power core that is used to keep it active and can be recharged by an E.E.R, which can only be installed from within the cockpit. This mech is controlled by an Emerald AI whenever the cockpit is vacant. ( _I know it's beginning to sound like a crossover, but it's not._ )

 **Pulse Glove**  
Emerald weapon created by Bismuths. This weapon could send a seismic boom out upon impact with a target, dealing crippling damage to anything in the area.

Emeralds only use these weapon when absolutely necessary and limit their use even then.  
Contrary to popular belief, Emeralds do not believe in war and only use these weapons to help other species.

* * *

There we go. That part's done.

Well, see you next time.


	11. CH8

S2-8  
 **Fusion**

* * *

William had been busy with helping Steven repair the arcade at FunLand since the fiasco with Garnet being mesmerized by Meat Beat Mania, so he didn't have time to search for Rose's Healing Spring. "Mr Smiley, I could find a harder material for the casing for these games if you want." "Nah, I just need this repaired soon. Thanks for the offer though."

One week later, William was watching Pearl and Amethyst play Checkers at the beach house.  
Amethyst jumped one of Pearl's pieces as the game was almost over. "Your turn, Pearl!" "Nice move, Amethyst. Very impressive, but... you still need to work on your overall strategy." Pearl captured all of Amethyst's remaining pieces and reached the other edge of the board in a single move. "Whoa! Oh man, you're right! I should've seen that coming." "The path to success is paved with many failures. You'll get it." William said. He then turned to Pearl. "As for you, Pearl... I'd say perfection itself is beneath your level." An honest comment. "Oh thank you, William. That really means alot." Pearl was blushing at William's words.

"OK. Is it me, or have we been getting along ever since William came around?" Amethyst asked. "Hmm... Now that you mention it, it does seem coincidental." Following Pearl's statement, William spoke up. "Well, Amethyst was on the right path, but on the wrong side of the road. I guess our interactions have been setting her back on the right side of said road." "Well, the way we've been doing things ever since you arrived has been efficient, I'll say that much. You keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Locate, isolate, neutralize. I like it." Amethyst stated, relaxing on the sofa. "Glad we agree." William added.

As Steven walked in, Amethyst partially shifted the topic. "Well, since we've been getting along, I assume this means we'll be forming Opal again." "Huh? Who's Opal?" Steven asked.  
At this, William stepped in. "Steven, allow me to enlighten you on the concept of Fusions. A Fusion is an amalgam of the combined magical and physical attributes of two or more gems fused into a single entity."

Just then, the Warp Pad activated, with Garnet having returned. "Welcome back, Garnet." William greeted. "Thank you, William." "Got anything to report?" "Yes. I've located the Geode Beetles of Heaven and Earth. In order to retrieve them, we should split up. The Earth Beetle is at the bottom of a boiling lava lake and only I can swim in lava, meaning you, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven should get the Heaven Beetle at the top of the Sky Spire." "Understood. Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, on me!"

With the four on the Warp Pad, they were transported to a different location.  
"Whoa! What a view!" Steven looked at the breathtaking mountain. "According to Garnet, the Heaven Beetle is all the way at the top of the mountain. We have a lot of ground to cover, so let's roll." William ordered, marching ahead, his arms remaining still as stone at his side.

After a long walk, Pearl decided to ask something. "William, the way you've been walking is almost... mechanical." "I used Steven's laptop to go online and get some info I might've missed during my travels. I found this interesting video on YouTube. 'Walk Like a Cyberman'. The way they march just... I found myself intrigued, and I couldn't help but copy that. You can check it out when we get back. It should be under 'History'."

Suddenly, the group heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. "Let me take a closer look." William moved in to investigate the bush, finding a mountain goat chewing on a flower. "It's just a mountain goat. No need to be alarmed. Let's keep moving." The goat bleated at him, making William take a single step away from it in a slightly awkward way.

Eventually, the group reached a field of floating rock platforms, and the mountain was at the very end. Just then, the goat jumped across the hovering landmasses, reaching the spiral staircase around the mountain. "Steven Jr knows the way!" "Wait... You named that thing?!" William exclaimed.  
Before Steven could start jumping islands, Pearl stopped him. "Wait! Just because a mountain goat can make those jumps, that doesn't mean you can too." "Pearl's right. Besides, I have an idea. I've been saving some materials for construction purposes." William projected a beam from his gemstone. Once the beam vanished, two smaller and thicker beams began creating a structure made out of wood and rope. "There we go. One bridge." Quite the ability William possessed. He created a bridge with massive entryways at both ends, holding the middle with rope as the middle part itself had railing walls, and supports underneath the bridge going into the islands. A non-rickety bridge.

Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, and William crossed the bridge before heading up the spiral staircase to where the goat went, arriving at the top as William pulled an ice-cold orange juice box out of his gemstone pocket storage. "Just from all that, I'm a bit thirsty."

Steven was slumping on his own steps as he slowly got up the last stair, breathing heavily. "Can all Gems do that, or is it just for Emeralds?" Steven asked. "It's an Emerald-exclusive ability we called Nano-construction. We store raw materials in our gemstones, then reshape and assemble them, atom by atom, into large structures, like that bridge." "Cool!"

There was a tiny structure at the middle of the area. "Huh. A tiny temple." William pointed out, finishing his juice. "Garnet said it would be here, and the Heaven Beetle should be inside." Pearl studied the miniature building. "Hmm... A bedroom... Bongos... A book... Where's the Beetle?" "Fan out and search the area!" William ordered.

After a while of searching, the gems regrouped, having found... nothing. "No sign of the Heaven Beetle, huh? It has to be around here some- Wait... I... I sense the presence of a Gem... two Gems... and they're... INCOMING!"  
A massive creature showed up, resembling a large vulture with no eyes and a very peculiar beak for a head.  
"It's a corrupted Gem! Neutralize it!" William formed his Plasma Buster. Pearl formed her spear and threw it at the crow-beast, only for the weapon to be swallowed whole.

"In here, guys!" Amethyst called out, leading the other Gems into the small structure at the top of the staircase as the corrupted Gem swallowed the goat whole.  
Just then, the creature's beak slid right into the entrance of the chamber, unable to reach the Gems. "Ugh... My spear's in that thing's stomach!" "Now there's something you don't hear every day!" William added.

Without warning, the crow-beast flew on top of the structure and started pecking at the chamber's external walls. "Amethyst, you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Time for Opal to join the fray!"  
Steven and William watched as Pearl and Amethyst exchanged bows, their gems glowing. Pearl started out with a ballet dance while Amethyst seemingly danced to both jazz and funk at the same time. After some dancing, Amethyst grabbed Pearl's hand as the tall Gem bent backward, leaving the purple Gem to catch her. Their physical forms began glowing and merging, taking a new form.

In the place of Pearl and Amethyst was a massive Gem warrior standing on her tip toes and with four arms. The warrior acted quickly in trying to subdue the crow-beast as it tried to attack them, only to be dragged into the air with it. The Fusion punched straight into the creature before ripping out the goat, completely unharmed.

As the Fusion dropped from the flying beast, it began to shatter into millions of shards, each of which reforming into winged eyeless beak-heads.  
Opal then put the mountain goat back on the ground, picking up Steven to protect him.  
The creature's living remnants attacked, forcing Opal and William to execute evasive maneuvers. As Opal somersaulted out of the way, William formed a bubble around his gemstone and discarded the physical mass of his form, becoming nothing more than a self-sustaining hologram before following the Fusion, which slid down the staircase as if she were wearing skates.

William jumped off the side of the large platform and landed at the end of his bridge, regaining his physical mass and becoming tangible.  
Opal jumped off the stairs and skidded to a stop as she landed on the island on the other side of the bridge while William crossed it.

"Stay low. I'll handle this." Opal let the boy down on his feet. The Fusion approached the incoming attackers for a bit before pulling out a spear and a whip, instantly merging them into a massive bow.  
With her left arms on the handle of the bow, Opal pulled back the string with her right arms, a powerful arrow of light forming from nowhere. As Opal aimed, a pulsation of energy began resonating from around her feet, somehow acting as a gust of wind. Opal released the arrow, creating a massive energy pulse that deformed the beak-headed creatures into gem shards, each of them being bubbled up and sent to the Temple as Opal put away her bow and turned to look at Steven, who literally had stars in his eyes as he gawked at what the Fusion was capable of.

Approaching him, the Fusion warrior offered to help the boy up on his feet.  
After a moment of silence, Steven worked up the nerve to speak. "Uh... Do you... know who I am?" Opal giggled. "Just because I'm a Fusion, doesn't mean I don't have the memories of my two components. I know you as much as they do. I'm sure Connie is very lucky to have met you." Steven's eyes shined brightly.

The Fusion turned back to the Emerald. "William, thank you for your help. Perhaps you'd like to try using this at some point?" Opal summoned back her bow. "I'll try making it." He pulled out a green spear and whip.  
With little to no effort, the Emerald formed a smaller and green version of Opal's bow before letting it vanish. "Thanks, Opal. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Later at the Temple, Steven, Opal, and William warped in to see Garnet wiping the top of her head with a towel. Her head was steaming. "Garnet, mission completed." William announced. "You have the Heaven Beetle?" Garnet asked. "I do!" Steven pulled the Heaven Beetle out of his pocket, allowing Garnet to take it and put it in a transparent container with the Earth Beetle, the interior filled with dirt, rocks, and leaves. "Great job, everyone." She closed the lid and bubbed the container. "Opal, it's been a long time since I've last seen you." "William helped Pearl and Amethyst settle their differences, and that made fusing much easier for them." "Nice work."  
"Glad I could help. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check on something of mine." William headed out the door.  
He was checking on the strawberry seeds he planted, there was already a little bit of a green stem protruding from the soil in the wooden planter. "I should make some food with the strawberries these plants'll grow."

Since then, William has been gathering fruit seeds and putting them in planters, sorted out by what they grow.

* * *

How was that?

Took a while to get this one done.  
I... got distracted by my work on my crossover story. My apologies.

See you next time.


	12. CH9

S2-9  
 **Sword fighting disaster**

* * *

Following the events that transpired with Steven trying to celebrate every single year old the Gems were, discovering how his feelings were causing his age to fluctuate, and how a childish trade between Steven and a very unusual and familiar individual caused a massive mess in Beach City, only for the mess itself to vanish upon the loss of Pearl's Replicator Wand, William decided to try and help the computer of the Freedom Shield repair the starship, but then it started to rain.  
On this rainy day, William was meditating on the couch by the front door, somehow causing small stones etched with hieroglyphics to float and orbit one another, which somehow helps him in his mental search around the Earth for Rose's healing spring, all the while Steven and the other Gems were watching this video on YouTube William mentioned earlier.

"Hi. I'm Ailsa, the choreographer on Doctor Who, and I'm going to teach you to walk like a Cyberman." Out of the entire group watching, Pearl was the most intrigued.  
On the video, the scene snapped from a grown woman to two pairs of silver legs, blurred in the distance. They began marching in unison, and in a perfect pattern.  
"The globally powerful Cybus Industries created the Cybermen from living humans, replacing bodily organs and limbs with mechanical parts." The silver legs were revealed to belong to two identical humanoid figures. "The brains are enhanced by removing the weakness of emotion, and the sense of pain."  
The Cybermen stopped on the screen, turned to face the camera, and performed some sort of robotic salute.  
"The resulting Cybermen are extremely strong and utterly ruthless without fear, emotion, or humanity. The ruthlessness and strength of the Cybermen is shown in their stance. The feet are parallel and shoulder width apart for maximum mechanical efficiency. The chest is held high, and the arms held away from the body and curved with fists clenched, ready for immediate action. The head is held straight forward, the eyes cold and emotionless. When marching, the Cybermen are programmed to lead forward with the left foot first. The knee is raised to an angle of 45° and planted solidly."  
The Cybermen each raised their left leg, stomping down in unison.  
"Why don't you try copying our Cybermen?" The scene shifted to the Cybermen marching. "Cybermen always march in unison. No energy is wasted on swinging the arms." "So THAT'S where he got that walking style!" Pearl exclaimed, seeing the way the Cybermen marched before closing the video.

William then phased the stones back into his gemstone. "Pearl, got any lessons you'd like to teach us?" William's question put Pearl into an eager mood. "Yes! Sword lessons!"

One warp later, the group was at an old location, seemingly miles upon miles into the sky. It was so high up that the clouds were close by.  
Pearl stood in the center of the arena, holding two swords. "I'll need a sparing partner in order to give a proper demonstration, and I know the perfect candidate." Pearl projected a hologram from her gem, a hologram of herself.  
"Huh. A hologram of Pearl. 'Holo-Pearl'. Neat. I should try that out." William made Pearl's gem flash again.  
A small orb flew out of the Emerald's gemstone before floating next to Garnet and turning into a hologram of William. "Nice." Just then, William noticed something. "Amethyst, why are you floating on a cloud?" "I thought about getting myself a new mode of personal transport." "OK. Makes sense."

Just then, Pearl sliced the projection beam from her own gem with a sword, causing the hologram to become self-sustaining and autonomous. " _Do you wish to engage in combat?_ " "Let this be the perfect battle." Pearl tossed a sword to her solidified holographic copy. " _You've already made a mistake by challenging me!_ " The hologram caught the sword and assumed a battle stance. "Our swords shall decide on that." Pearl assumed a stance herself.  
A few seconds later, Holo-Pearl's blank pupil-less eyes turned red. " _Commencing duel!_ " Just like that, the hologram took the first move. Pearl blocked the strike, creating a seismic boom in the area. The gust blew Steven off his seat and went through Garnet's squarish hair.  
Running along the area, Pearl and Holo-Pearl began exchanging continuously blocked and avoided strikes. " _Defense rank: S. Zero openings detected._ " "Impressive moves, Pearl!" William cheered.  
The hologram took the shot, and missed as Pearl ducked under her opponent's weapon. Pearl then proceeded to deflect Holo-Pearl's aerial strike, leaving the hologram open to a finishing blow.  
Holo-Pearl glitched on the ground, eyes back to white.  
" _Match set. Challenger wins!_ _Do you wish to battle again?_ " The hologram sat up as if nothing happened.

"Well done, Pearl! Now THAT'S what I call mastery!" William applauded, making Pearl blush from his truthful words. "Oh, thank you!"  
"Pearl, you were amazing!" Steven cheered. "Well, one does try their best." Pearl was blushing from Steven's words again. "Will you teach me to sword fight like you?" The boy asked. "You'll get your chance when you're older. Patience." William stated.  
"William, if you wish to learn, you can." "Why don't we start with the basics?" "Very well." Pearl cleared her throat and faced the hologram, which was still sitting down. "Initiate training mode." Holo-Pearl suddenly ended up on its feet. " _Training mode initiated. Level 1 BEGIN!_ " Pearl began sparring with the hologram. " _Parry! Parry! Thrust!_ " Holo-Pearl was doing the corresponding moves, the constant noise of the repeating cycle grating on William's nerves.  
"Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, William? Notice where I keep my center of gravity." "The eye of the storm is always centered." "Hmm. Excellent choice of analogy, William." "You roam around for a few hundred years, you pick up a thing or two." "I'm... so sorry to hear tha-" " _Thrust!_ " "HYE!"  
Amethyst, Garnet, and William were all caught by surprise as Holo-Pearl pierced Pearl's physical form with a sword from behind. "Sorry, Pearl! I shouldn't have been distracting you!" William exclaimed apologetically.  
Pearl dropped her sword before looking at the one jutting from her chest. "Oh, no need to apologize, William. It's OK. I'll be just-" She was unable to finish was she was saying before her physical form disintegrated, leaving her gemstone to fall, and William to catch it.  
" _Challenger defeated! Level 1 failed!_ " "OK, THAT'S IT! I'M TAKING OUT THIS HOLOGRAPHIC TRASH!" William's green gem glowed a pure red glow. " _Do you wish to engage in combat?_ " "I'M GONNA ENGAGE IN TERMINATING YOU!" " _You've already made a mistake by challenging me!_ " William formed his Plasma Buster. " _Illegal weapon detected!_ " "ILLEGAL, SHMENEEGAL! YOU'RE GOING DOWN, YOU ABOMINATION OF REPLICATED EXISTANCE!" William dodged a swipe and, in an instant, the Emerald released a massive blast, immediately and completely emancipating the solid hologram.

William unformed his Plasma Buster, noticing that the black substance of his corruption was up to the side of his neck. "Crud..."  
The remaining Crystal Gems rushed to the Emerald's side. Out of all of them, Steven was the most worried, and William could see this. "Steven, it's OK. Pearl's gonna be just fine. Her body was ruptured, causing her to release her physical form and retreat to her gem to regenerate." "So, she's gonna be OK?" Steven asked, followed by William putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "It could happen to any gem, through any number of ways." "So... how long will her regeneration take? Five minutes? Ten?" The happy expressions on everyone else's faces faded.

A couple weeks later, Pearl still hadn't regenerated yet. Steven had put her gem in a little basket with a pillow in it and scooted a little lamp over it and turned it on. It was as if Steven was attempting to hatch Pearl's gem like an egg.  
William heard Steven sighing, followed by the sound of the Warp Pad activating while he was telepathically searching the planet, stowing the stones back in his gem.  
On the Warp Pad were Garnet and Amethyst, who was still floating on that cloud. "Care to update us on Pearl's condition?" Garnet asked. "She still hasn't regenerated..." Steven groaned. "Wow! Two whole weeks and she still hasn't reconstituted?! Pearl sure is taking her time. Hey, isn't my room suppose to be the messy one here?" Amethyst wondered. The place was a mess. "Pearl usually helps me tidy up." "I'm sure she'll come around." "Hey, if real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thi- Oh, right, William destroyed it..."

Amethyst and Garnet eventually left the house to try something involving the small cloud. "Steven, I'll help you clean this place up, or rather 'we' will help you clean." William then projected five holograms of himself, each going on to clean the messy house, and using William's memory to put everything back where it was before.  
The house was back in order in under a minute, so Steven and William went out to see what Amethyst and Garnet were doing.  
Amethyst ate the cloud whole, swallowing it just like that. Suddenly, she was immediately inflated and started floating upward, with Garnet then holding onto her leg. "How's it 'floating', Amethyst? Heh." William joked. "Ohh, REAL original, William." Suddenly, Amethyst burped a cloud out. "Don't be such a 'balloon', Amethyst. You're really 'floating' the boat here. Heh heh." "WILLIAM!"

Later that night, Steven was watching Tron Legacy while William went back to his search for Rose's Fountain.  
Suddenly, a glow illuminated the house, and the glow was coming from Pearl's gem! William sensed this and decided to get the boy's attention. "Steven, guess who's making an overdue return!" Steven paused the movie before rushing down the stairs and seeing Pearl reform.

William went out the door to get Amethyst and Garnet back inside. "Hey, guys! Guess who's back!" They came back inside as Pearl's physical form began reconstituting. "Oh, that's much better."  
Steven ran up and gave Pearl a great big hug. "Oh, hey! Miss me much?" Garnet came to Pearl's side, holding a string wrapped around Amethyst's ankle. "I'm not even going to ask what happened to you." "I swallowed a cloud..." ...and she burped up another cloud. "Hmm... Everything looks to be in order. I guess I could leave you alone for a while." "You can leave me in your stead and I'll keep things in order and under control." "Thanks for the vote of confidence, William." "You're welcome. Oh, and welcome back."

With everything all back in order, and Amethyst eventually deflated, William continued on to his search for Rose's Fountain.

* * *

We're getting close, I just know it.

That video at the start of this chapter is a real thing.  
Here's the YouTube IP. **[** /watch?v=0HVp5krbOGQ **]**

See you next time.


	13. CH10

S2-10  
 **Located**

* * *

After a few incidents concerning the Fusion of Garnet and Amethyst, leading to William acquiring another replicated weapon, crazy time paradoxes that temporarily suspended William's understanding of time and space, and the accidental release of the Centipeedle Mother, with William acquiring a new ability yet somehow becoming further corrupted, things were starting to get strange.  
With his corruption worsening, the substance was dangerously close to William's right eye and was very close to enveloping his entire form, which meant he was on the brink of terminal corruption.  
Every now and then, William would hear a voice calling out to him in the original Emerald language. "G⟟⎐⟒ ⟟⋏ ⏁⍜ ⏁⊑⟒ c⍜⍀⍀⎍⌿⏁⟟⍜⋏. ⎅⍜ ⋏⍜⏁ ⍀⟒⌇⟟⌇⏁. ⟟⏁ ⟟⌇ ⎎⎍⏁⟟⌰⟒. ⌇⎍⏚⋔⟟⏁ ⏁⍜ ⍜⏚⌰⟟⎐⟟⍜⋏." "Get... out... of my... head. Leave me ALONE!"

While William was meditating on top of the lighthouse again, the Freedom Shield sent out some Scanner Satellite Drones to assist him in looking for Rose's Fountain, effectively increasing the speed of the search.  
The Emerald was disturbed by some commotion going on, but decided to ignore it.

He was close.  
He could feel it.  
He just needed a little more time.

William's gemstone stopped glowing as he opened his eyes. "Found it."

"Amethyst, you're gonna get hurt!" "Sometimes, you gotta live on the edge. That's where the excitement is." Without warning, the edge of the cliff Amethyst was standing on crumbled to pieces, causing her to fall. "I'm OK!"  
William jumped off the lighthouse before picking Steven up and jumping down after Amethyst, who was climbing off a large rock.  
"Amethyst, you OK?" The Emerald asked. "Normally, I'd be making a joke out of something like this, but..." Amethyst pushed some of her hair to the side, revealing an enlarged and offset googly eye. "Yeah. This happened." "AAAIIIEEE! WHATTHEABSOLUTEHECKISWRONGWITHYOUREYE?!" William exclaimed. "I know. My vision's all weird."  
Pearl and Garnet appeared and rushed to the others. "Amethyst, show me your gem!" Pearl demanded. Amethyst revealed her gem. There was a small crack in it!  
"Amethyst... Your gem... It's cracked!" "So... Now it's a life-or-death situation, and a race against time." Amethyst sighed.  
"How exactly did this happen?" Pearl asked. "She was standing on the edge of the cliff by the lighthouse and the edge crumbled apart under her feet." Steven said. "Oh stars... Amethyst, you should be more careful on thin ground." "Suggestion noted... and agreed with."  
"I still have some materials left I can use to partly alleviate the cause." William jumped onto the cliff before making a modern wooden fence piece itself into existence, splinter by splinter. Once the job was done, he jumped back down immediately.

"Amethyst falls on stuff all the time. What's so different about this?" Steven asked. "If it was just her body, it'd be fine, but her gemstone is damaged." Pearl stated.

William decided to explain things. "The body of a Gem is actually a projection generated by their gemstone. Imagine a hologram, but with mass. Although Gems are extraordinarily resilient, if they're seriously hurt, they'll release their physical form, like Pearl during that sword practice fiasco. When their physical form is destroyed, a Gem is rendered down to their gemstone. In this form, they can most efficiently concentrate their energy into regeneration. As long as the gemstone isn't damaged, the Gem will be able to regenerate. However, if the gemstone is cracked or damaged like Amethyst's, their physical form starts to bug up, and the worse the damage, the more severe the physical malfunctions. If a Gem's gemstone is completely shattered, then said Gem will cease to be."

"Is there any way to fix Amethyst's gemstone?" Steven asked. "Your mother had healing tears that flowed from her gem. She felt real love for those around her, and she felt real sorrow when they were hurt. You have the Rose Quartz gem now. That power may be in you too, but you might not have unlocked it yet. This means we should make forRose's healing spring." Garnet said. "Yeah, we need to get to it as soon as possi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i..." "Oh boy..." William sighed as Amethyst's face scrunched up unnaturally before popping back in normal position, but with the googly eye. "Struh tsehc ym. EM XIF!"  
"What... the heck... just happened?" " _Scans indicate a side effect of gemstone damage._ " The Freedom Shield responded through the Scout Drone.

"First off, we need to find Rose's healing spring." Garnet stated.  
" _We have located the healing spring, as well as the E.E.R William requires to burn the corruption out of his gem. I will transport you to the healing spring via the Warp Pad._ "  
Once they were at the Warp Pad, the structure began glowing green as it transported them to a field filled with cactus-like vines. All over the vines were Excavation Drones from the Emerald starship, cutting out large chunks of the plant life and carrying them away. " _I am still carving the vegetation out of the way, transporting it back to the starship, and converting them into bioenergy to recharge both the starship and the active Drones, and I am storing the extra energy in the reserve tanks. William, perhaps your ability to become intangible will assist you in finding your way to the fountain._ " "Good idea." William discarded his physical mass, becoming a normal hologram once again before rushing in and phasing right through the vegetation surrounding the area.

After a while of searching through the cactus-like vines, William came across a large structure, untouched by the vegetation. It was Rose's fountain, and in the left hand of the Rose Quartz statue, glowing green with pure Emerald energy, was an E.E.R!  
First things first, he had to clear out all the vegetation surrounding the fountain in order to allow the others to use the fountain to repair Amethyst's gemstone.

William restored his physical mass before taking a look in the Fountain. Not a drop of water. The vegetation most likely clogged up the flow.  
With a pulse, William found out where the clog was, and managed to get there by once again discarding his physical mass, becoming intangible.

In order to remove the obstruction, William formed his Plasma Buster and blasted a hole through the vines overhead, his beam acting as a beacon for the Drones to remove the clog. Once they entered, it was only a matter of time before the water would once again flow into Rose's healing spring.  
William rushed back to the Rose Quartz statue to acquire the E.E.R and finally purge himself of corruption. " _Emerald William, be advised: your corruption levels are nearing 100%. You must use the E.E.R before it is too late._ "  
William gripped the handle on the top of the Emerald device before turning it. His gem slowly began to glow as the safety latches on the E.E.R disengaged. Once the handle made a complete half rotation, massive amounts of Emerald energy began flowing out of the device in streams, floating aimlessly before converging on William's gem. The black substance of corruption began to disintegrate, being burned out of the Emerald! First, it vanished from around his gem, then from his arm, and eventually the ends were all that was left, until they, too, were gone.  
" _Corruption levels are now at 0.00%. Congratulations. You have purged yourself of corruption._ "

As soon as the water reached the fountain, the vines that remained began to turn into flower pedals and dispersed, allowing the rest of the Crystal Gems to head to the fountain.  
Amethyst's condition was worsening, as her head and right foot had seemingly switched places. "Get her into the fountain! NOW!" The Crystal Gems rushed Amethyst into the healing spring, but it looked as if nothing happened.  
Suddenly, Amethyst's gem started to glow. It was working! The light quickly became too bright for anyone to see, even with sunglasses, as William had put on a pair, still being unable to look without hurting his eyes.  
The glow eventually died down, revealing Amethyst in her normal condition... well, as normal as she could be.  
"Status?" " _Crystal Gem Amethyst has been fully restored. On another note, the power in the Freedom Shield has been replenished. Power at full capacity. If you bring the E.E.R back to the starship, I can use the extra energy to partially recharge it._ "

"Wait... If the Freedom Shield can run off of around ten times the amount of energy as an E.E.R can hold, then how are you back up to full?" Steven asked the AI. " _My onboard solar panels have been gathering energy for centuries. They activated approximately thirteen days after William departed from the crash site, and they have been online ever since._ " "Care to see the Freedom Shield, Steven? I have to warn you, there's not much to see right now, but that'll soon change."

Later that day, the Crystal Gems, guided by William, made their way to the downed Emerald starship.  
" _Welcome, Crystal Gems, to Emerald starship Freedom Shield. My original mission is to assist Emeralds in defending the freedom of sentient species. That mission still stands, and I must assist Emerald William in defending the freedom of the human race. My mapping systems have been restored, and I can now assist you in locating points of interest or tracking hostiles._ " "That's a big greeting." " _My apologizes, Crystal Gem Garnet. Emerald William, please insert the Emerald Energy Reservoir into the energy transfer module located in the main generator chamber._ "  
William departed from the group before coming back about a minute later with a glowing green E.E.R in his hands, ready for another use.

"Is Emerald energy really that powerful?" Pearl wondered. "Countless times stronger than the sun. We've tested that, and the result was a burned out gas giant." William stated.  
"We have more to do. Let's head back to the Temple. Freedom Shield, continue your repairs, your help will be needed soon, very soon." Garnet ordered. " _Acknowledged._ "

* * *

How was that for an interesting chapter?

William is no longer corrupted. He is now perfectly stable.  
Other than that, you all know a certain blue Gem coming up in the next one. You could say they'll 'reflect' upon what happens.

I will 'sea' you next time.


	14. CH11

S2-11  
 **Gem in the mirror**

* * *

William was meditating on top of the lighthouse, as usual, until Pearl came up to visit him. "Hi, Pearl. How have you been?" "I've been well. What about you?" "I've gotten better since... y'know." "Since you found the Emerald Energy Reservoir at Rose's fountain." "Yeah, it's actually been useful. On a better note, the Freedom Shield is almost done repairing itself. I may have accelerated the repair rate by fixing up some of the Maintenance Drones. It says it'll be back at optimum efficiency in about half an hour." "Really? That's amazing!" "Yeah. With the Freedom Shield fully operational, interstellar traversal will once again be ours. Anyway, I think I see Steven over there... with a mirror?" "Well, we found that mirror at the Galaxy Warp. I tried making a school setup to teach Steven some things, so I tried using the mirror, but it seemed broken, so I just called the whole 'school' thing off and let him have the mirror." "I'm sure he'll 'reflect' on that action. Anyway, looks like he's coming back." "Let's head inside and meet up with him." "Got it."  
Pearl went ahead to do some prep work. William headed back inside the house, seeing Amethyst and Garnet on the couch, and Pearl stacking some items in the middle of the living room. "Steven's coming."

Right on cue, the human-gem hybrid came through the door. "Guys! Wait'll you see..." He paused, seeing Pearl dismantling the school setup she made. "Steven, William has good news." "The Freedom Shield is nearing the completion of its repairs." William reported. "Awesome! Anyway, mirror's fixed!" "It... It is?" Pearl wondered. "Did you guys know it was like a person?" That came as a shock to everyone, even William.  
William spoke up. "Hang on! I sense the aura of another gem, one more than normal around here. Let me have a look at that mirror. I need to confirm a suspicion." Reluctantly, Steven handed William the mirror. "Everyone, gather 'round!" The Crystal Gems and the nearby Freedom Shield Scout Drone gathered over William's shoulders.

"Who are you?" William asked the mirror.  
In its reflection, the mirror showed itself being turned around, revealing a shape on the back. William turned the actual mirror in the indicated way, discovering a cracked gemstone lodged in the back of the object.  
" _Gem identified: Lapis Lazuli._ " The Freedom Shield reported.

Without another word, William headed outside, bringing the mirror with him.  
Once he reached the shoreline of the beach, he grasped the gem embedded in the mirror's rear surface, pulling it out with some effort. The mirror shattered, causing William to drop it as the newly freed gemstone flew out of his other hand, restoring its physical form at long last. The Gem was of an aqua blue color with what looked like a sleeveless dress, and her eyes resembled mirrors.

The rest of the Crystal Gems caught up, which William noticed. "Crystal Gems, stand down!" He ordered. "Were any of you aware that there was a living Gem stuck to that mirror?" The other Gems glanced at each other, shrugging and shaking their heads. "Well, now you know. ⟟'⋔ ⌇⎍⍀⍀⍜⎍⋏⎅⟒⎅ ⏚⊬ ⋏⟟⏁⍙⟟⏁⌇..." Everyone gave him a confused look.  
"Leifa... t'chezlo... What?" Lapis asked, trying to pronounce what William just muttered. "I'm surrounded by nitwits!" William translated, facepalming.

"OK, Lapis. Let's take a look at your gem. It looked damaged." Steven pointed out.  
Lapis turned around and sat down. "Yeah... My gem is cracked..." William inspected the gemstone, seeing a crack vaguely shaped like the letter Y. "Looks as if being stuck in that mirror for so long has been pressing your gemstone inward, like pushing a hole closed. Sooner or later, that crack will open back up. We need to do something."

They all headed back to the beach house, where William entered a meditative state, going over his options. "Steven, didn't Garnet once say that you had Rose Quartz's healing tears?" "Not exactly. Last week, I discovered that I had healing spit instead." William recoiled slightly. "Ew."  
"Sorry, Lapis. This might feel a little weird." Steven warned her. "Huh?" Steven licked his palm, then placed his saliva-covered hand on her gem, causing her to shudder at the feel of cold spit on her back. "That's gross." William remarked.  
At first, nothing happened, but then Lapis's gem glowed as wings made entirety of water expanded from it. The glow died down, revealing the formerly damaged gemstone of Lapis Lazuli in perfect condition. She turned around, her eyes no longer resembling mirrors. "Thank you so much, Steven!"

"Before you go, allow me to introduce myself. My name is William, and I'm an Emerald. More specifically, the last of the Emeralds." "The last of... What happened?" "My home planet, Epsilon 7-B, was destroyed, eradicated, reduced to rock chunks." William sighed. "Who did that?" Lapis asked, feeling sympathy for the Emerald. "Yellow Diamond. I saw her." William then pulled out a small communication device from his gem. "In case you need someone to talk to, you can communicate with me. Keep this device, and stay in touch." "Thanks, William. I will." Lapis took the device and strapped it to her wrist. "If things don't go as planned for you, you're always welcome here. Now that the Crystal Gems are aware of you having been trapped in that mirror, I suspect they may be seeking your forgiveness. Right, guys?" At that last part, William eyed Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet, who all agreed nervously. "As long as it won't happen again, I'll consider this forgiven."

William headed to the door, pulled it open, and stepped aside, motioning for Lapis to proceed. "Ladies first." At that, Lapis chuckled, accepting the gesture. "If I get the chance, I'll make sure to give Yellow Diamond a piece of my mind for you." "What I would give to be there in person, and pull the trigger myself."  
With that, Lapis left the house and flew off, bidding the Crystal Gems farewell.  
"Now then, I'm gonna be bringing the Freedom Shield here at some point tomorrow, if that's OK with you guys." "Well, you'll have to make sure it's OK with the citizens first." Garnet had a point.

Later that morning, the people of Beach City had gathered around again as William had a request.  
"So, what's this about a starship?" Mayor Dewey asked. "It's called the Freedom Shield, and its primary directive is to protect the freedom of sentient species on other worlds, and I am its operator. I used it to escape when the rest of my kind, the Emeralds, were under attack on our home planet. Unfortunately, I'm... the only one left... My home planet, Epsilon 7-B, was completely eradicated, and there's nothing left. I crash-landed here centuries ago. The Freedom Shield is fully repaired. It's been using Repair Drones to fix itself. I can speak with it over extremely long distances since it can communicate through the Drones. The escape pod I used is loaded back into the Freedom Shield, and it's ready for another use if need be. I was wondering if it was OK with you guys if it relocated to here in Beach City." "Wait. How big is it?" "It'll be easier to show you."  
" _Confirmed. I am on my way to Beach City now._ " The Freedom Shield reported.

Within half an hour, a massive vessel could be seen in the distance over the ocean. "Over there! The Freedom Shield!"  
The residents of Beach City looked on to see the Freedom Shield pass over the area and stop above hillside beyond it. " _I will require a suitable place to land. Emerald William, I recommend you acquire materials and construct a landing platform. Scanning available local resources._ " The Scout Drone projected an analysis beam in a full rotation before a conclusion was reached. " _Analysis complete. Emerald William, you will require approximately 5 tons of concrete and 16 steel girders to create the landing pad. Use the leftover materials you have stored to create a staircase. If you wish, you may acquire 5 cans of both white and green paint for a symbol on the platform._ "

In a matter of hours, the materials were acquired and stored within William's gem. A landing pad started piecing itself into existence through two beams being projected from the Emerald's gemstone.  
Within minutes, the landing pad had become whole, with a giant Emerald gemstone painted onto the top, with a normal and light shade of green.  
" _Landing pad complete. Integrity is beyond acceptable standards. Initiating landing process._ " The Freedom Shield started to descend, landing perfectly on the platform.  
Once the engines were clear to go into standby, the residents of Beach City were able to enter, seeing everything in the starship, including the main computer housing the AI in control. " _Greetings. I am the Freedom Shield, an Emerald starship created and programmed on the Emerald home planet of Epsilon 7-B. Current primary directive: defend all sentient species from Yellow Diamond's forces, and eliminate Yellow Diamond. Until then, I shall act as both the sword and the shield of humanity._ " "So, what about the Emeralds? Were any of them off-planet at the time?" Mayor Dewey asked. " _Scanning Emerald records._ "  
A holographic display of hundreds of humanoid beings flickered on and was going through multiple different Emeralds at a rate of about 50 shifts per second, all of them with the same message.

SHATTERED ON EPSILON 7-B

It eventually stopped at one Emerald.

EMERALD MORLAX  
SIGNAL LOST  
STATUS: PRESUMED SHATTERED  
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: EARTH

"Morlax..." " _Emerald Morlax. Last known location: Earth, Facet 5 Kindergarten. Playing last transmission._ "  
"Alright, I found this strange crevasse in the ground. I don't know what this could be, but I gotta be careful. ... I think I found another gem, I'm gonna go talk to 'em. Hey, you there, ya lost!? I could help you find a way outta here if ya wan- ~faint unintelligible and distorted groaning~ OH GOD! WHAT IN THE EVERGROWING UNIVERSE IS THAT THING!? ~unintelligible screaming closing in~ OH GOD! OH GOD! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME! AAHH- ~shatter, static~"  
" _Emerald Morlax was lost approximately 30 centuries ago. Emerald William, perhaps you can replicate and enhance the healing ability of Rose Quartz._ " "Steven has that ability now." " _Confirmed. Dialing phone number for Steven Universe._ "  
They waited a bit before a familiar child's voice could be heard. "Hello. You've reached Steven Universe. Steven speaking." "Steven, this is William." "Hi, William. Wait... How are you calling me? I thought you didn't have a phone." " _I sent the contact. We have discovered another Emerald on Earth, and William will require an enhanced replica of your healing ability. Emerald Morlax is currently shattered, and the enhanced ability will be able to restore him. Unfortunately, the location of the Facet 5 Kindergarten is unknown. We lost contact with Morlax before he could transmit global co-ordinates, approximately 30 centuries ago._ " "If it'll help, what do I need to do?" Steven asked. " _I have relocated to Beach City. Have you calculated your next action from supplied information?_ " "That means 'Do you know what to do?'." "I got it. I'm coming over there right now. I can see it! William, did you make a landing pad for the Freedom Shield?!" "Yeah, I did. I'll see you soon, Steven."

Eventually, the inhabitants of the Freedom Shield heard the pitterpatter of small shoes. Steven had arrived.  
Steven approached William at the control console before pulling his shirt up a bit, revealing his gem. The gemstone flashed before something unusual happened. From Steven's gem came a small orb containing a small drop of what could only be assumed as Rose's healing tears. The orb glowed to the point where not even sunglasses would help, only for the glow to die down, revealing two of the same orb. The first phased back into Steven's gem, while the new second went into William's gemstone.  
" _Replication and enhancement of Rose Quartz healing ability: complete. Thank you for your help, Steven. Rose Quartz would be proud to see that you are helping others._ " "Yeah, and you can put your shirt down now, Steven." Steven put his shirt down as William pulled something out of his gem. It was a chocolate-covered donut with sprinklers from the Big Donut. "Here you go, Steven. I heard you really like these, I can see why, they are GOOD." "Thank you, William!"  
"Wait! Where'd you get that donut!?" Lars demanded. "I bought it at the Big Donut. Here's the receipt." William pulled out a small slip of paper and showed it to Lars, who then remembered the purchase. "Oh."

"Anyway... Freedom Shield, can you run a search?" " _Of course. Performing global search for Facet 5 Kindergarten location. Releasing Scout Drones._ " Outside the Freedom Shield, more Scout Drones appeared and headed off in random directions.  
"So, what are you trying to accomplish?" Mayor Dewey questioned. "Morlax's starship, the Path-forger, is outfitted with a terraforming module. If we can recover it, we'll be able to make a dead planet hospitable. We'll do Mars's moon of Deimos. There just might also be more Emeralds out there. Hiding." " _I am unable to locate the Path-forger. It appears to be offline._ " "Looks like we've got a new task."

* * *

AAAAAND there we go!  
MAN that took a while!

Oh well. See you next time.


	15. CH12

S2-12  
 **Peridot**

* * *

William was checking the Freedom Shield's systems when he felt a disturbance. He went back to the Temple to see Steven in his PJs and slouching on the door, he apparently didn't sleep last night... and he had a water shooter.  
He knocked on the door, waking Steven up. "Hm? Oh. Hi, William." "Morning, Steven. Didn't sleep well?"

Just then, Pearl arrived, carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies. "Steven, would you like one?" "Huh? Thanks, Pearl." Steven took a cookie and bit into it, savoring the chocolate chip flavor.  
William entered the beach house, took a cookie, and had himself a bite. "Mmm. Delicious."

Eventually, the cookies were all gone, and William had a question. "Steven, why were you asleep at the front door this morning?" Before he could answer, Garnet spoke up. "He says he saw something outside the warp stream." "I think it's worth investigating. Freedom Shield, run a planetary analysis." William ordered, turning to the Scout Drone.  
" _Initiating pla-_ " "I don't think that's necessary! Steven's just being superstitious." "Pearl, isn't that Ronaldo's job?" The Emerald's words made Pearl chuckled and facepalm.

Once Steven had gotten his daytime clothes on, the Crystal gems and the Scout Drone started warping around to different locations.  
Their first stop was a field, filled with nothing but dandelions. "Nothing out of the ordinary here." Garnet noted.  
Suddenly, Steven sneezed. "Bless you." William said, having just learned of Steven's allergies.  
They then warped to the last location of a recently absorbed lethal storm. William had siphoned the storm contained within the Geode, which left it an empty shell. "Nothing out of place here either. It was interesting how you converted that storm into power, William. That E.E.R is quite a useful piece of technology." Pearl commended. "Emerald engineering. Storms are basically formless and hazardous clouds of electrical energy, and with the Emerald Energy Reservoir set to Direct Recharge Mode, it absorbed the storm."  
They warped to the place Pearl and Amethyst formed Opal, seeing nothing out of the ordinary at first.  
Without warning, Amethyst yelled out. "Whoa! Hello! THAT'S something! Steven Jr's been busy." Amethyst stated.  
The goat had a couple baby goats, one running around, and one laying on the daddy goat's back. "You're a grandpa!" "Congratulations, Steven." Garnet added, making Steven chuckle.

"I have a suspicion." William stated, warping the Crystal Gems to the Galaxy Warp.  
"These are the Warps that once connected us to other planets. If something tried to come from space, it would be through here, but this Warp Pad is inoperable, marked broken by a sticky note Steven placed." "That's not entirely true, Pearl." William stated. "What...?" "I came from space, but I didn't use the Warp Pad. Maybe something could have come here by using a spacecraft, just like how I arrived here on the Freedom Shield?" "Hmm. When you put it that way, it actually makes sense."

Later that night, William had replaced the crying waffle sticker on the Homeworld Warp with a green sign.

WARP PAD STATUS: DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR

" _I am detecting multiple unknown mechanoids scattered along lower atmosphere._ " "Steven was right. We're not alone here." William warped back to the house, seeing the Crystal Gems conversing with one another.  
"I'm actually starting to believe this unorthodox development! What William said at the Galaxy Warp was just so... logical! It made sense! If Steven saw something, then why were we trying to tell him otherwise?!" Pearl questioned. "Well, from what I remember the Emeralds were a highly intelligent race of gems, and they had access to groundbreaking technological accomplishments, so it should come as no surprise that William's choice of words would be supported by reason." Garnet replied, patting Pearl on the shoulder.  
The microwave beeped, followed by Amethyst opening it. "Who wants mixed cheese nachos? I used mild cheddar and mozzarella." "I'd like to try some!" Steven called.

Suddenly, something crashed through the ceiling and broke the floor. The thing that crashed in looked like a small seamless sphere, with four 'legs' coming out as the sphere started heading toward the Warp Pad. "That's the thing I saw in the warp stream!" The Scout Drone started scanning the small machine. "Apparently, when logic starts making me believe something, said something is revealed in person shortly after!" Pearl exclaimed.

William picked up the small machine. "Freedom Shield, what is this thing?" " _Analysis is inconclusive. There is no record on this in the Emerald archives._ " The Freedom Shield reported, followed by William containing the mechanoid in a bubble. " _I am scanning the planet for more of these mechanoids._ " There was a short silence before the AI reached a conclusion. " _I have detected exactly 79 more unidentified mechanoids of the exact same blueprint. They are all converging on one location. I will provide access._ " The Scout Drone floated over to the Warp Pad as the Crystal Gems followed, using the Warp Pad to go where the other spherical machines were going. The Galaxy Warp.

Upon arrival, the gems immediately spotted the other mechanoids releasing some strange gel on the Homeworld Warp. William then released the one remaining machine and watched as it went to join the others.  
"Their doing something to the Homeworld Warp!" Pearl exclaimed. "Yeah, but the question is: What?" William wondered.  
"There's like a million of 'em!" "Actually, there's exactly 80 of them, Amethyst." William stated. "Oh."

Before another word could be said, the mechanoids backed down and got off the Homeworld Warp. The gel hardened and smoothed out before immediately vanishing, leaving the Homeworld Warp in perfect condition. "That gel... fixed the Homeworld Warp?" Garnet wondered.

" _Incoming Warp Pad trans-warp detected._ "  
From the newly repaired Homeworld Warp came a beam of light. Someone was coming.  
As William ran for cover, Garnet picked up Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst and followed him.  
The stream vanished, leaving behind a new gem with strange appendage augmentations, and a different shade of green from that of an Emerald. "Freedom Shield, identify" " _Scanning._ "

The main four floating digits of the gem's right 'hand' turned into a holographic screen, displaying a multitude of different highly advanced figures and projections.  
"Log date 3-1-2. This is Peridot, performing Earth hub maintenance check.  
" _Gem identified: Peridot._ "  
"Hub repair success. All 80 Flask Robonoids deployed and accounted for. Preparing to locate and manually reactivate Kindergarten. Now to access the Domestic Warp." As Peridot walked off the Homeworld Warp, she noticed a high-tech sign on the side of it. "Highly advanced gem tech? Here? It's not of Homeworld origin. What could it... This site may have been compromised." Peridot walked back up onto the Homeworld Warp and pulled out a small device from the gem on her forehead and placed it down as her right augmented arm started sparking all of a sudden, drawing her attention just before she warped out.

The device blinked three times before sending out a local EMP, rendering the Flask Robonoids offline, yet the Emerald sign was unaffected.  
"A Peridot. That's a new gem type. First things first, we need to make sure she won't come back. Garnet, care to do the honors?" "Very well, William." Garnet started forming her gauntlets, but she kept making them bigger until they were about half the size of an Emerald starship escape pod.  
She then smashed the Homeworld Warp to pieces in one impact. "The deed is done."

Later that day, the Freedom Shield was processing a load of new encrypted information. "Where'd you get all this data?" " _I managed to hack into Peridot's technical equipment and acquire the data stored within them. I am having difficulty deciphering the encrypted data._ " "Let's get crackin' then. We've got some information to decrypt."

* * *

Well, that went interesting.

See you next time.


	16. CH13

S2-13  
 **Unexpected Fusion**

* * *

It was finally the day Steven would learn how to fuse.

"William, you're up first." Garnet stated. "Uh... No. I don't wanna stress him up about how Emeralds fuse with other Gems, so I'm gonna sit this out." "Alright, you can watch. Amethyst, you're up first."  
Steven and Amethyst were attempting a Fusion dance while Pearl lead them through the pace and rhythm. "Five! Six! Seven! Eight!"  
While they danced, music played to help them stay in line with their own timing. "Synchronize!"  
Amethyst then attempted to pick Steven up before fumbling and dropping him, causing them both to burst out in laughter. "Seriously...?" "I'm afraid so." William added, sharing Pearl's irritation.

They started again, with Pearl helping them through it. Amethyst tried to pick Steven up again and easily lifted him over her shoulders before they both started laughing again. "This is getting nowhere. Let's try something else."

Steven and Amethyst stopped trying to fuse while the gems, except William, showed him a demonstration and attempted to help him, but to no avail. "I don't get it. I thought I almost had it." "Nobody expects you to be able to perform Fusion right away, Steven." Pearl stated, thinking deeply about this. "I wonder though if Steven's body is capable of Fusion. Fusion merges the physical forms of Gems. However, Steven is half-human, and thus organic." Pearl trailed off. "Organic?" "Biological stuff, Steven. We also gotta teach you biology." William stated.  
"Eh. Uncharted waters. New world, new rules. Right?" Amethyst had a point. "I think Steven can do it. We just need to believe in his capabilities." Garnet had confidence.

Later that night, Steven and his friend, Connie, were out on the beach, with William practicing on combining his various abilities and replicated weapons.  
"OK, so getting them to write out the steps won't be of any help." Connie asked. "I don't think it's just about the dancing. When they fuse, they glow and kinda... phase into each other. I'm not sure if I can even do that." "Well, I think it's amazing you were able to dance with them at all. I could never do that." "Huh? What do you mean?"  
William stopped his practicing and joined the two, his holograms dissipating. "What're you talking about, Connie? Of course you can dance." He stated. "I've... never danced in front of anyone before." "Why not?" Steven asked. "There was a dance at my school and I was really excited about it, but... I just... I couldn't bring myself to go. I couldn't stop thinking about everyone staring at me." "Sounds like you've got stage fright. You just have to have confidence in yourself." "Thanks, William."  
"One sec." Steven took out his phone and opened the MP3 app on it, playing some nice music. "So... Care to dance?" Steven looked a bit embarrassed, covering his eyes with one arm while the other was extended for Connie to take his open hand. Eventually, she did.  
Steven slowly lowered his arm from his eyes before eventually pulling Connie a bit closer, ready to dance with her.

They danced to the music playing from Steven's phone as William watched.  
As this happened, a Scout Drone from the Freedom Shield came to the Emerald. " _Emerald William, I am detecting Fusion energy building in this general area._ " William was the only one who heard as Steven and Connie kept dancing. "Fusion energy?"

As William turned his attention back to the dancing kids, he saw Steven trip before being caught by Connie. "Heh. Those two... Huh?" A pink light began shining from where Steven and Connie stood.  
The glow died down, revealing a large woman where the the kids once were. "Wha...? What?!"

"Freedom Shield, analysis?" " _Gem: 25%. Human: 75%. Analysis indicates Steven has fused with a pure human being._ " "Steven? Connie?" "We're here, William." The new Fusion stated. "Who's speaking right now?" "Connie. Steven's pretty much speechless on what just happened." "Well, I'm not far from that myself."  
Suddenly, Steven burst into excitement. "THIS IS SO COOL!" "WHOA! Steven?" "William, look at us!" "I can see that. You've become a Fusion." "This is so exciting!" " _I will be gathering information on how Steven and Connie managed to successfully perform Fusion._ " "C'mon, you two. Let's head back to the Temple."

Once they arrived, the others weren't there. "PEARL, AMETHYST, GARNET! YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!" William called.  
The three Crystal Gems came out from the door, seeing the Fusion between Steven and Connie right in front of them. They were all speechless. "It's Steven and Connie... fused." "Pretty cool, right?"

"Steven fused? With Connie?" "Pearl, take a gander at Garnet." Amethyst snickered. Pearl and William looked at Garnet, who was beaming with a smile.  
Pearl turned her attention back to the new Fusion. "How unprecedented! A Gem fusing with a human being?! This shouldn't be impossible! Well, at the very least, it's inappropriate." Amethyst came up to see the Fusion even closer. "You two look GREAT together! How does it feel, Steven? Connie? Stevonnie?" "'Stevonnie'. Really?" William was... unimpressed. "Amazing!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves, but I think you two should unfuse." Connie spoke up from the Fusion. "Pearl, you were so worried Steven wouldn't be able to fuse. Aren't you proud of him?" "I... Yes, I am proud of him." Pearl smiled, cheering up. "Stevonnie. You are not two people, and you are not one person. You... are an experience. Make sure you're a good experience. Now go... have... fun!"

While Stevonnie was out having fun, William was still researching the whole Gem-human Fusion thing. He had nothing, but the Freedom Shield came to a conclusion. " _Emerald William, I have a hypothesis. Steven is half-Gem and half-human. His Gem half used his human half to allow the Fusion between him and Connie._ " "Well, that's interesting. I guess there are things about gems that even the Emeralds were unaware of. Fascinating."

Later that night, William and a Scout Drone of the Freedom Shield were heading back to the Temple. They arrived at the beach, and saw Steven and Connie, unfused. The two children parted ways, Steven heading to the Temple, and Connie walked off to somewhere. "Well, I guess that's the end of that." " _Indeed._ "

* * *

Now THAT took SO LONG!  
The distractions that are my other stories... I tell ya, I just can't focus on literally every single one at once.

See you next time.


	17. CH14

S2-14  
 **Morlax**

* * *

As the Freedom Shield searched the Earth for Morlax and the Path-forger, William and the other Gems gathered the Flask Robonoids left behind by Peridot, then brought them back to the Temple through the Warp Pad.

"Welcome back, guys!" Steven greeted. "Thank you, Steven." "Hey, it's those things from the Galaxy Warp! Why'd you bring 'em home?" "Pearl thought it would be best to clean 'em up, just in case they reactivate and fix the Homeworld Warp again. I say we bring 'em to the Freedom Shield so it can analyze them. If Homeworld Gems are trying to return to Earth, then we need to be ready for them. We need to arm up." William explained.  
"What do the Homeworld Gems wanna do?" Steven asked. "From what I've been told, Homeworld wanted to suck the planet dry of its nutrients in order to create even more Gems, which would eventually render the Earth inhospitable, maybe even catatonically unstable. Rose Quartz, Pearl, and Garnet wished to protect the natural inhabitants of this planet, something that us Emeralds would also seek to do. We had these Codes, and some Codes even stated to save a planet's inhabitants by removing them from a dying world and bringing them to a healthy planet, where their future would certainly continue. Because of their actions, the Crystal Gems may never again return to Homeworld, for they are now traitors." "Whoa..."

With that, William decided to head out. "If you'll excuse me, I have to bring these 'Flask Robonoids' back to the Freedom Shield." William left, taking the remaining Flask Robonoids with him, heading to the Freedom Shield.

" _Analysis of these Flask Robonoids will take time, I am not sure how long. Why don't you go out and... 'have a bite'?_ "  
Understanding the term, William headed out to the Big Donut. "Hey, guys." "Oh, hey, William. What brings you here?" Sadie asked, wiping off the counter. "Just grabbing a bite while I wait for the Freedom Shield to complete an analysis."  
In a matter of seconds, a bag of donuts was filled up and placed on the counter. The Emerald took out a handmade wallet, then pulled out the cash he needed and paid for the donuts, keeping the receipt with the others.

Upon returning to the Freedom Shield's command console, the AI had an alert. " _Emerald William, Pearl and Garnet have reported that Steven and Amethyst have gone missing._ " "OK, that's not good." " _Fortunately, Steven's cell phone remains operational. I have a lock on his global location. A functional Warp Pad has been found near them. A Scout Drone has been sent to the Warp Pad in the Crystal Temple. Head there, and I will transport you to their location._ "

William rushed out, storing the donuts in his gem for later, and running back to the Temple.  
Upon arrival, the Emerald jumped onto the Warp Pad, next to the Scout Drone.  
One warp beam later, they were in a different area. It was a massive and dark crevasse in the Earth, filled with holes in the walls and ancient Homeworld tech still clinging to the terrain, albeit dusty.

Steven and Amethyst were down below, looking around. "Steven, Amethyst, there you are! The Freedom Shield tracked your location via your phone, Steven. What were you thinking? Pearl and Garnet must be worried sick about the both of you!" "I'm sorry. I know Morlax was shattered at a 'Facet 5 Kindergarten', but I'm not sure we're in the right place." William's mood went from stern to shocked. "Wait... You and Amethyst are looking for Morlax and the Path-forger?!" "Yeah!"  
Just then, the Freedom Shield spoke through the Scout Drone. " _I am detecting Emerald tech nearby._ " "Emerald tech? Here?" Amethyst wondered.

William picked up Steven and Amethyst, then made a high jump to the surface.  
In the distance was what looked like a starship. They approached it, finding out what it was. "Path... forge... William, didn't you say Morlax's ship was called the Path-forger?" Steven asked. "I did! This is the Path-forger!" " _The Path-forger is offline. Cause: Unknown. I recommend an investigation._ "  
William formed two green gauntlets, then pried the hatch into the Path-forger open, granting entrance. They entered the old Emerald ship, finding that the place was all dusty. No lights were on, so they had to rely on the lights from the Scout Drone for navigation.

" _The control console is up ahead._ " They eventually arrived at the Path-forger's control room. Everything was offline. " _Emerald William, proceed to the power chamber._ " With that, William headed to another room of the Path-forger.  
After a bit, the lights came on and the console flickered to life.  
" _Hibernation mode manually disengaged. Performing system scan._ " " _Path-forger._ " " _Freedom Shield._ "  
William then returned to the control room. "The Path-forger's online. Good." " _Emerald William, report. Have you seen Emerald Morlax?_ " "No, not yet. We're still searching for him." " _I have uploaded the last recorded co-ordinates of Emerald Morlax's location to the Freedom Shield via a local channel._ "  
They exited the Path-forger, with the Scout Drone leading the way.

Eventually, they came across dusty green shards on the ground. " _The fragments of Emerald Morlax's gem. Emerald William, it is time to put your newly replicated and enhanced ability to the test._ " William picked up all the shards, contained them in a green bubble, then made the orb glow for about a minute.  
Once the light died down, an intact Emerald gemstone was revealed inside the bubble before being released. The gem stopped falling little over a centimeter above the ground, floated up, then released green light. A physical form was being remade, with the gemstone ending up on the left shoulder.

The new Emerald had a white undershirt, green overalls, fingerless gloves, and what looked like snow boots cut down to shoes. "Whoa... What happened...?" "Morlax!" "Aha! William, my boy!"  
"William, is that...?" Steven began. "Oh, right. Morlax, this is Steven, Rose's son." "Gem offspring? How?!" "Interspecies relations." "OK, I'll have to send this to the Memory of Time when I get back to Epsilon 7-B." "Yeah, good luck with that..." "What do you mean?" "It's... gone. Yellow Diamond's army destroyed our home. I... was the only one to escape." "Why is it that you were the only one who escaped?" " _Emerald William was simply performing his weekly duties of maintaining my functions when Yellow Diamond's attack force appeared in orbit. When breaking orbit, William initiated temporal phase-out, but a devastating blast from one of the Homeworld warships caused extreme damage, causing us to crash land. The crash would have shattered William's gemstone, resulting in our efforts being wasted, so I overrode my own systems and ejected the escape pod, saving him and allowing him to locate you and bring you back._ " "Can't argue with the ship's computer. So what now?" "This is our home. Earth."

With the Path-forger restored to full functionality and en route to Beach City, William brought the others back to the Temple through the Warp Pad.  
There, they were greeted by Pearl and Garnet. "STEVEN! AMETHYST! There you are!" "Thanks for bringing these two back, William. Now who's this?"  
"Pearl, Garnet, this is Morlax. Steven and Amethyst were out there, searching for him. Morlax, meet the Crystal Gems, the protectors of the Earth and its inhabitants." "Protectors of Earth, huh? We're seriously gonna need a lot more just to protect this planet from one ship." "Yeah... Epsilon 7-B was decimated by an entire battle fleet."

With Morlax brought up-to-date on everything that went on, a new landing pad was created next to the one made for the Freedom Shield. The second pad was for the Path-forger.  
Morlax joined the Crystal Gems, and was given a tour of Beach City.

William brought him to the Freedom Shield's control console because he needed help decrypting the data taken from Peridot a few days ago. "Seems excessively complex. Gimme a bit, and I'll figure this out."  
As William left, he put down a plate with a couple donuts on the wall-mounted desk next to the database access terminal, just in case Morlax wanted to try them.

While nobody was watching, Morlax reached over, grabbed a donut, took a bite, and put the rest back on the plate. "Hm. Delicious."

* * *

That's a new chapter for this story out of the way.  
Sorry it took so long. My mind was just elsewhere.

This took place during the episode 'On The Run'.

See you next time.


	18. E-D: 3

Emerald documentary  
Part 3: Abilities and powers

* * *

Emeralds have many special powers and amazing abilities used for many purposes.

 **Echo-pulse**  
Emeralds can use this ability to map entire structures with ease, and it is impossible to hide anything from an Emerald's Echo-pulse. The process is complete when the pulse returns to the Emerald who sent it out.

 **Replication**  
Emeralds can copy the weapon, ability, and skill of any Gem at will, but the Emerald must have a direct line of sight with the specific Gem's gemstone.

 **Copy enhancement**  
After replicating the weapon, ability, or skill of a Gem, Emeralds are capable of enhancing their replications to a greater extent than the original.

 **Intangibility**  
Emeralds can release the mass of their physical forms and surround their gem with a special type of bubble. When using this ability, the form of an Emerald becomes semitransparent, as if it was reduced to a normal hologram. The bubble containing the gemstone is indestructible, smaller, and always keeps the gemstone in its current location on the Emerald's physical form. Anything present within an Emerald's physical form when they become tangible will undergo instantaneous molecular disintegration on any parts within the hologram.

 **Emerald technological neural interface**  
Emerald tech was specialized to be able to tune in with the "frequency" of an Emerald's gemstone, allowing long-distance communication and remote control through nothing more than a simple thought. An Emerald computer could use the link to communicate over infinite distances, or even locate the Emerald.

 **Enhanced gemstone pocket dimension**  
Emeralds are capable of storing literally anything within their gemstone. Any organism or organic object stored in this will be immediately put in a state of chrono-stasis for as long as they remain within the pocket dimension.

 **Nano-construction**  
Emeralds are capable of creating practical structures by using selective materials stored within their gemstones in order to easily assemble massive and sturdy structures into existence. The area is first scanned before two beams are projected from the gemstone, putting the structure together molecule by molecule and in record time, often thirteen seconds. ( _The way it puts things together is inspired by the Fabricator in Subnautica._ )

 **Overload**  
Emeralds who are in possession of long-range energy weaponry are capable of expelling 100% of their energy reserves into a target in order to break their target's limit, causing the target to eventually explode from having too much power coursing through them. This is used as a last resort and reduces the Emerald to a burnt out rock.

 **Revival**  
Ancient Emerald ability which allows an Emerald to re-energize another Emerald who has used the Overload ability. This leaves the reviver weak and the revived dizzy and barely able to even hold themselves up for approximately three minutes. The revived Emerald may experience amnesia for five minutes and form displacement for six before stabilizing and regaining their composure. This ability is rarely given a chance to be used due to the burnt out gemstone being shattered in 98.27461% of all uses of the Overload ability. Any Emeralds who survived to be revived are given a modified E.E.R clamped on their upper arm and connected to their gemstone in order to become a Galactic Adventurer. ( _Morlax was a Galactic Adventurer._ )

 **Enhanced Regeneration**  
Emeralds who have sustained major physical damage expel a fifth of their energy in order to restore their form. Only elite Emeralds are given this power. This burst of regeneration energy is not done by choice and happens on its own when the Emerald's physical form is critically damaged. ( _This ability is inspired by the regeneration effect of the War, 9th, and 10th Doctors in Doctor Who._ )

When an Emerald is angered to a certain degree, the energy they hold reacts violently, causing the gem to glow red. If a Gem causes an Emerald's gemstone to glow red, the anger will be vented directly at them in the form of either being thrown with enough force to shatter Mount Everest, or have their physical form completely obliterated. In the latter case, if enough force is vented, the Gem's current physical form will be rendered damaged beyond the possibility of regeneration, forcing them to create a brand new one.

* * *

That was interesting.

I'll see you all next time.


	19. CH15

S2-15  
 **Marble Madness**

* * *

Now that Morlax had adjusted to life on Earth with the humans and Crystal Gems, the two Emeralds needed to figure out what they should do next.  
William and Morlax were running diagnostics in the Freedom Shield and Path-forger respectively.  
" _Emerald William, I have detected another signature. It may be in your best interest to investigate it._ " "Roger that."  
Once William left the Freedom Shield, he saw Morlax exiting the Path-forger. "The Path-forger just notified me of a signature that I should look into." "The Freedom Shield told me the same thing."

Eventually, the two Emeralds reached the Crystal Temple, seeing the Crystal Gems fight a larger version of the Flask Robonoid, but this one had eight legs.  
"What the heck is that thing?!" Morlax demanded. "We don't know! They just keep coming!" Pearl exclaimed. "Let it go where it's trying to get to, but let's follow it. We'll get some answers."  
At the Emerald's words, Garnet thought about the logic in what he suggested. "William's right. If we keep destroying them as soon as they arrive, we won't learn anything." "Everyone, climb on!" William ordered.  
Once the Crystal Gems had climbed aboard the large Robonoid, William shape-shifted himself into a ramp that lead up to the Warp Pad in one of the Crystal Temple's hands.

Once the Robonoid stepped on the platform, William reverted to his humanoid form and joined the others just as the Warp Pad activated, taking them to a familiar desolate place.  
"The Facet 5 Kindergarten, where Morlax was shattered. Trust me. We'll get some answers."

The Robonoid then went on its way to an unknown destination, with the Gems riding along.  
"What does it want here?" Pearl wondered. "It's probably looking to recover some data that was left behind. Information recovery probes, that's what they might be." Morlax surmised.

Suddenly, the Robonoid ceased movement.  
Everyone jumped off, leaving the Robonoid to seemingly absorb its own legs, float in midair, release a small spark into the ground, creating a square hole in the ground, then transform into an upside-down pyramid, slotting in like a missing piece of a puzzle.  
It was then that the Robonoid became an elevator platform, sliding down below ground. "Let's head down to see what's up." Morlax said.  
Everyone jumped and slid down, landing on the platform.

For while, there was silence as the elevator reached its destination, causing a chamber to light up, followed by a pedestal coming out of the floor. A strange sound could be heard beneath their feet. "What in the world is that noise...?" Amethyst wondered.

From under the elevator platform came a Flask Robonoid, which made its way to the pedestal and plopped itself on it like a hand, causing the large crystal to light up, then project a holographic screen, and on the display... was Peridot.

Everyone hid, remaining undetected. "Established gem projection link with control room. Plug Robonoid has successfully landed on planet Earth and entered Prime Kindergarten control room at Facet 5. Will proceed to perform status check of Kinderfarten."  
"I think Peridot's trying to reactivate the Kindergarten, but why?" William wondered. "Why don't we ask her?" Steven suggested. "A direct approach. It might delay her actions, but it should buy us time to get into position. Go for it."  
"Now accounting for all operational injectors. Checking for apparitions in perimeter." Out of the floor came what looked like floating hand, interfacing with the walls like buttons and command prompts, causing six cylindrical containers to come out of the ceiling. "This Gem tech is simply archaic." "I've seen better. Still, I think it looks pretty cool." The containers went back up into the ceiling and the screen quickly turned around to face Steven.  
"C⍀⎍⎅..." "I have no idea what you just said, Morlax. We can't understand the original Emerald language. William, what did he say?" Amethyst asked. William translated. "Crud."  
"I would say 'Welcome to Earth.', but it looks like you're not even here. Anyway, my name is Steven." "There appears to be a human under the designation 'Steven' in the Kindergarten." "Aw, I'm not so bad once you get to know me." "And how many more of you are present in this area?" "Oh. Just me." "Yeah, that's a relief. So tell me, are you the last human on Earth?" "Oh, no. There's lots of humans. There's my dad, Connie, Lars, Sadie, the mailman, Onion... I think. Lots of people, everywhere. Now it's my turn to ask. What are you doing here?" "Just picking up where we left off." As the screen turned around, Steven replied. "Yeah, I know what it's like to have unfinished business."  
It stopped, then turned back to face Steven. "Is that so?" "Yeah, it was a few years ago. I saw Connie drop her bracelet at a parade, so when we actually met later on, which was only a few months before today, I gave it back to her." "So your unfinished business was to return a fashion accessory to this 'Connie' after she dropped it? Hmm. I respect your noble intention of bringing a possession back to its rightful owner."  
Just then, William's voice was heard. "As did I!" This caught Peridot off-guard. "WHAT THE-?!"

William jumped out of the shadows, Plasma Buster at the ready. "Who... WHAT ARE YOU?!" "Next time you send a squadron to wipe out an entire Gem race, make sure ALL of them are dead! Tell Yellow Diamond that her days are numbered, and that this planet is off-limits to all of you!" With that, William annihilated the power source with a single blast.

The control room was dark again, the large hands falling to the ground. "Well, now we have some answers." William said as the other Crystal Gems joined him. "She was attempting to access some alternative project in this facility, but thanks to William's suggestion, we put a stop to it for good." Pearl said with a smile on her face.

* * *

Well, I finally got around to finishing this chapter.

See you next time.


	20. CH16

S2-16  
 **Not the only one with swords**

* * *

Not much happened since the development at the Kindergarten, except for William discovering Garnet's Future Vision, then replicating it. He was still figuring it out so he can use actually it.

While William was examining the Freedom Shield for any unseen damages, he stumbled across the stasis containers in the reattached escape pod, and two of them were occupied.  
He opened them, releasing two Gems. The gemstones let out their energy, reconstituting old physical forms.  
One was a version of Pearl, but with Emerald-like attire, and a gemstone on the upper left arm, yet practically hidden from view within the sleeve of the shirt.  
The other had a large bulky body type with broad shoulders and a strong, flat chest, wider than the lower body, with noticeably shorter legs compared to the arms, hair styled in several dreadlocks in a mixture of several tones of green held back by a silver headband, sporting a tattoo-like marking of a pentagon on the backs of the hands in a metallic grey, and a concave gemstone located in the left shoulder.

"Vilo... Blith..."  
"Will... William?" "Ohh... My head... How long have we been out?" The Pearl-like Gem asked groggily.  
"Centuries, I'm afraid." William stated.  
With Morlax and the Crystal Gems called over, the two recently released Gems were given a genuine welcome. "I remember these two. Blith was-" William interrupted Morlax. "An extra Bismuth I snuck off one of Homeworld's colonies. They didn't seem to notice." "Yeah, too many Bismuths. William here gave me a new life. Their old starships were fascinating, but lacked a certain forged charm. The Emeralds didn't ask me to, but I enhanced the framework of their starships."  
With that, William introduced the Pearl. "And Vilo was a Pearl I snuck out of one of their Kindergartens during one of our raids. Remember the Kindergarten raids we did? I may have also... adopted her... as... my sister." "I'm not like other Pearls. What Homeworld does with Pearls is unforgivable." "As is what they did to Epsilon 7-B." "What did they do?" " _Yellow Diamond's forces launched a full-scale assault on the Emerald home planet of Epsilon 7-B, shattering all Emeralds that were found, with the exception of William, who managed to escape, and Morlax, who was shattered in the Facet 5 Kindergarten here on Earth centuries prior. The planet was also destroyed. An asteroid field comprised of the lifeless remnants of the planet is all that remains of Epsilon 7-B._ "  
Blith and Vilo bowed their heads in mourning.

Later that day, the Crystal Gems were going through that old strawberry field. "Is it me, or is this place even bigger and filled with more weapons?" Steven wondered.  
"This was a historic battle site. All these weapons were left behind by a Gem over 50 centuries ago. We can't leave them here." Garnet stated, picking up a massive battle axe practically as big as a house, holding it with no effort. "Never know when you might need one of these." "Mind if I make you a more manageable version?" Blith offered.

"Lion, come help me look for a weapon!" Instead of doing as Steven told, the pink lion wandered off. "Oh, c'mon!"  
"A child? With a weapon?!" "He has a shield, Blith. He's a human-Gem hybrid." William said.  
"You really need to train that thing better." Pearl groaned. "You trained Amethyst." Morlax added. A round of laughter was shared, except with the purple Gem in question.

"Well, I just let him do his own thing. It's not like I have a say in the matter." "What's he got now?" Pearl wondered. It turned around, revealing an empty sheath in its mouth. "That... That's the scabbard for Rose's sword!" William grabbed the sheath, which the lion released, having received a gentle petting just afterwards. It purred contently. "Good boy."

"If the scabbard for my mom's sword was here, then she fought here?" Steven asked. "That's right, and I fought by her side." Pearl replied as William handed her the scabbard. "It must've been quite the spectacle. You took down so many of them, yet sustained many casualties. It... must've seemed hopeless to you, fighting for so long." "Yes, but we won. Steven's mother led us to victory. We were outnumbered, our motivation beginning to ebb, but we chose to fight alongside Rose Quartz, and we made our stand against Homeworld." "Impressive." " _Adding to memory._ "

Later at the house of the Crystal Temple, William was in the kitchen, having written down a few recipes he came up with.  
Vilo chose the 'Classis Club', while Blith chose the 'Fiery Flatbread'.  
With the orders placed, William went straight to work. He and a recently projected Holo-William each made one of the sandwiches.  
Within minutes, they were done.

"Well? How'd I do?" William asked.  
"Oh ho ho MAN! They don't call it the 'Fiery Flatbread' for nothing!" "That... is... good. Where'd you learn to make this stuff?" Vilo asked.  
"You travel the Earth for centuries, you pick up a thing or two. Listen, I'm sorry I didn't bring you two out of those stasis cells, I just didn't know if you were still alive. I mean, the escape pod was heavily damaged by the crash." "Crash?!" Blith exclaimed in surprised. "Yeah, the Freedom Shield crash-landed on Earth, but ejected the escape pod just before impact." "You ran instead of fighting?" Vilo asked. "If I fought, the Emeralds would be extinct, and you two would be... I don't even want to imagine what they'd do to you." "Making choices based on your chances of either outcome can be frustrating at times, but you made the right decision in running. One Emerald can't stand up to a planet-killing armada alone." Blith was right.

Just then, the Warp Pad activated, with Steven and Pearl standing upon it. He went over to the resting lion, then pulled a large blade from its pink mane.  
Apparently, the lion had a sort of pocket dimension within its fur. "Here you go!" "How did Rose's sword get in there?" "Not sure, but there's a ton of stuff in there, such as a VHS tape, a treasure chest, a tattered flag, this sword, a photo of mom and dad, and an extra-extra-large 'Mr Universe' T-shirt. I keep stuff in there too." Steven jumped into the lion's mane, then came back out, riding his bike. "See?"

Pearl tried to enter the mane, but the lion kept her out. "Does Lion have something to do with Rose? It makes sense, but... Rose didn't have a lion." "It seems like her stuff in there." Steven added. "She might've had it when we were in separate places. I... I need to think about this... alone."  
At that point, Pearl went to the Warp Pad, teleporting away. "Why don't we let her take it all in?" Morlax suggested, to which everyone agreed.

They headed back to the Freedom Shield, where Blith reached over and pulled up the hand that had William's gemstone on it. "William, you still got my portable blacksmith set in there?" "Coming right up."

Once they went outside, William opened his pocket dimension, releasing a foldable and substantially large structure.  
Just then, they were approached by none other than the mayor of Beach City. "William, what is this thing, and who are they?" "Mayor Dewey, meet Blith and Vilo. I found them in stasis cells in the Freedom Shield's escape pod. Blith, Vilo, meet the mayor of Beach City, Bill Dewey. To answer your first question, this structure is Blith's forge, where she created the enhanced frame components and hull plating for all Emerald starships, including the Freedom Shield and Path-forger." "Ooh, so Blith must be a VERY talented blacksmith." "Well, Bismuths were made for this sort of thing, so no surprise there."

Later that night, Steven went over to Blith's forge, followed by Pearl and the lion.  
"What's this place?" Steven wondered. "Welcome to my forge! Need something made?" "Yeah! Hang on."  
With that, Steven jumped into the lion's mane, coming back out with not only the sheath from earlier, but also a sword to fill it, which it already was. "Oh, you brought something. Need any repairs made? Hmm... Is it even damaged?" "Why not make a second one?" William suggested. "Twin sabers. Great idea, William!" "Actually, I'd like one of my own." "Oh. Sure thing. I didn't think of that. Let me see what I can do."

Right then and there, Blith got to work.  
First off, she made a mold of the sword and its sheath.  
After that, Blith prepared a miniature heating stand, with William providing a metallic crystal-like alloy.  
After two hours of heating, pounding, and shaping, the new blade was forged, then details to the Emerald's specifications.  
Before William took a hold of his newly forged weapon, he shifted into a form he had not used in centuries: his original form.  
"May this blade signify the inevitable dawning of a new age. Humanity will live, the Emeralds will return, and Homeworld will fall."

* * *

COMPARISON

Rose's sword - It's a straight bladed saber that's pink with a red handle. There are vines etched in the guard that connect to a rose-shaped pommel.

William's sword - It's a straight bladed saber that's silver with an emerald green handle. There are circuit patterns etched in the guard that connect to a half-sphere pommel, which itself is etched with circuit patterns.

* * *

This took me a while to do.

Say hello to Blith and Vilo!

Vilo is technically William's adopted sister.  
Yeah, Emeralds learned the concept of family from us.

The Classis Club and Fiery Flatbread are from this one game I really took a liking to playing: Papa's Cheeseria.  
You guys should try it at some point.

See you next time.


	21. CH17

S2-17  
 **The Message**

* * *

While William was showing Vilo and Blith around Beach City, a call came through. " _Emerald William, I am detecting a disturbance in the Crystal Temple. Recommend investigation._ " "We'll have to continue this tour another time."

They headed to the Temple and opened the door, only to have their ears blasted by some GOD-AWFUL SCREECHING!  
Garnet was holding a Wailing Stone, the source of the noise! Steven was there too, but he wasn't fairing well with... that. "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?!" William could barely hear himself over the noise.  
"IT'S THE WAILING STONE!" Pearl answered, experiencing the same problem. "MAKE IT STOP!" Amethyst pleaded. "IT JUST ACTIVATED ON ITS OWN!" "IT WON'T SHUT UP!"  
With that, William grabbed a couch cushion and stuffed it through the Wailing Stone's reverberating hole, nearly silencing the thing.

"My ears hurt now." Vilo groaned.  
"Did you say something? Did... Did I say something?" The Wailing Stone made Blith go deaf!  
William grasped his ears, covering them up as his eardrums regenerated.

"This doesn't make any sense. Ever since we found it, the Wailing Stone has laid dormant." Garnet stated. "Well, I haven't heard a Wailing Stone activate since they were used for the rebellion. On top of that, I've NEVER heard it give off THAT sound." Pearl added. "Somebody is certainly trying to send us a message, but we've rounded up every Wailing Stone on Earth, and we couldn't be sending this signal to ourselves. If it's not from Earth, then it must be coming from outer space."  
"Do some Gems sound like that?" Steven wondered. "Not even the Emerald language could sound like that total catastrophic earsore. The signal is most likely too advanced for the Wailing Stone, which would explain the audio distortion." William stated, his hearing having been restored.  
"Audio? My dad knows audio." "Well, Greg is pretty good with all that audio stuff. It's a logical choice." Morlax stated.

Outside, the Gems asked for Greg's help with the Wailing Stone's distorted message. "Mr Universe, we require your... assistance in decoding the signal being picked up by this Wailing Stone." William stated. "You need help with sound stuff? Well, you've come to the right retired rock star. Ahh, here it is! The Lubitz Cardioid Condenser 680! It's got warm tones without too much top-end" He pulled out a big honking microphone from the back of his van, and it was glowing.  
"Also, it has a big, honking sponge thing." Amethyst pointed out. "I know! Awesome, isn't it?" "If you're into stuff that's big for the sake of being big, then sure. 'Awesome'." William replied.

Greg pulled the cushion out of the Wailing Stone, unleashing the ear-shattering screech for a few seconds before stuffing the spongy microphone in the hole. "Oww...! Freakin ears!" William groaned.  
"Where's Morlax?" Pearl wondered. "He's performing a routine statistics check on the Path-forger."

"Alright, I'll add some reverb and some low octave effects, and maybe some fuzz, because why not. So if I directly input the Wailing Stone and put it through a flanger, I'm sure we'll get what you need." Greg explained. "Flangers aside, I'm not sure a signal like this is compatible with your analog devices." Pearl didn't believe that Greg could do this.  
"Pearl may not trust your experience, but I do, Greg." William stated. "OK. Here goes nothing."  
With the press of a button, the auditory nightmare returned, but much more intense. In response, William formed a pair of green gauntlets and slammed them against his ears, while Amethyst was screaming like a donkey past the brink of insanity.

"OH DEAR LORD! I am so sorry!" With that, Greg went back to the console and altered a few of the audio settings, lowering the intensity until it was nice and quiet.  
Garnet tapped William's shoulder, letting him know that it was safe to unblock his ears.  
"Is that... music?" Steven wondered. "Yeah, and it may sound nice, but this isn't what we're looking for." Gradually, the sound started to turn into a more vocal state. "OK, here we go!" Greg exclaimed. "It's... a voice." Steven noted. "Almost there...!"

Suddenly, the noise stopped. "What's happening?! Where's the signal?!" Pearl demanded. "I don't know. It just... cut off." Greg said, confused.  
Garnet removed the microphone from the Wailing Stone, but it wasn't letting out a noise anymore.

It was then that one of the Freedom Shield's Scout Drones arrived, followed by Morlax. " _Crystal Gems, an urgent transmission is being broadcast through an Emerald communication channel._ " "I thought all the other Emeralds were shattered!" William was surprised. " _The sender is not an Emerald. Greg Universe, may I connect to your monitor?_ " "Yeah, go ahead."  
A wireless jack popped out of the Scout Drone's left forearm, which Morlax took and plugged into the TV in Greg's van.

On the TV, a familiar blue Gem was shown. "Steven! William!" It was Lapis Lazuli! "Lapis?" Steven was worried.  
"I just remembered I had this Emerald communicator, and I hope you're able to hear this! A Gem is looking for Steven, and she knew his name somehow! I didn't even bring him up! What's worse is that she's on her way to Earth, and she is NOT alone! Homeworld is not the way it once was! Everything here is too advanced! I can't understand anything here! Nothing on Earth could stand up to it! Don't put up a fight! It'll only lead to devastation!" With that, the feed cut out.

"That's not good." Pearl shuddered. "What Lapis doesn't know is that the Freedom Shield is fully operational, and there's more of us on Earth. I'd say payback time is closer than we think." " _The protection of Earth shall be put to its first test._ "

* * *

William gave Lapis that communicator just before she left Earth, remember?

They... are... coming...

See you next time.


	22. CH18

S2-18  
 **They're here**

* * *

With the Crystal Gems, minus Steven, who was tucked in bed by Vilo not too long ago, at the Freedom Shield, and with one of the recovered Flask Robonoids repaired and in containment, the Freedom Shield had an announcement. " _Crystal Gems, I have found the operating frequency on which these Flask Robonoids operate. Generating an EMP on that specific frequency will disable all Homeworld machines in range._ "  
The EMP was given a test run on the contained Robonoid. A pulse went into the container, and the small mechanoid's systems were completely fried. "I think that's a success! What do you think?" Pearl asked. " _Confirmation: positive._ "

The next day, while William was finalizing his replicated Future Vision, something appeared in the sky, followed by a strong sound wave that broke all the windows in Beach City, yet the windshields of the Freedom Shield and Path-forger were... unaffected.  
The large object entering Earth's atmosphere resembled... a hand?  
Once William arrived at the shore, he saw the other Gems. "Are the Light Cannons ready?" Garnet asked Pearl. "Yes. They're in position."

At that point, Steven and Greg came by. "Guys, do you know what that thing in the sky is?" Steven asked. "We have to assume it's Peridot's ship." "Lapis said she'd be coming with enhanced weapons and reinforcements. We have to expect the worst."  
"It's happening..." Greg wheezed, staring in disbelief.

"One ship against two. I think we can take care of this." William stated. "But Emeralds are a peaceful race, and their starships carry no weapons!" Pearl stated, with the Freedom Shield responding immediately. " _I beg to differ. My weapon systems are online and fully operational. However, I must reorient myself in order to target the inbound vessel._ "

"Ready the Light Cannons!" Garnet ordered.  
What appeared to be three Laser Light Cannons put together in an array slid out from underneath the Temple house, followed by Amethyst bringing out a single Light Cannon in a red wagon.  
Garnet then handed Steven a walkie-talkie. "Light 'em up, Steven." "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." Four massive energy blasts were shot out, combining in a spiral as it neared the hand-shaped spacecraft.  
The hand-ship opened up, with the blast hitting the 'palm' and doing nothing. Afterwards, the ship went back to a pointing gesture.  
"Nothing." Garnet reported. "Well... Now what?" Greg wondered. "The town will need to be evacuated. We'll have to face them head-on"

Just then, William had an idea. "If regular Laser Light Cannons couldn't do anything, then what about a replicated one?" He then formed his Plasma Buster, taking aim at the hand-ship. A great big burst of Emerald energy was unleashed.  
As expected, the ship reoriented itself to block the blast, but the energy was strong enough to actually do some damage, and some significant damage at that. "That did something! William, think you can-" Garnet trailed off, seeing what was happening to the Emerald. It looked as if William used too much power, as his physical stability had tripped, with his body was just glitching all over the place.  
Once he restabilized, William unformed his Plasma Buster. "I don't have enough power for that thing."

The hand-ship went from a clenched fist position to its previous pointing orientation, then resumed its descent.

"I need to make a call and ask a political favor." Steven was calling Mayor Dewey to get an evacuation started. "No need, Steven. We can take it from here."  
Once Morlax reached the Path-forger, he engaged the external loudspeakers via the console. " _Beach City residents, this area is unsafe. Please walk, do not run, to the path-forger's colonist transport chamber._ " The AI was looping the same message over and over again.

Outside, Steven was sitting just at the entrance to the Path-forger, and the Crystal Gems approached him, and Greg was with them. Before he could say a word, Steven saw his old cheeseburger backpack, filled with his belongings. "Is that... my stuff?"  
"Who should tell him?" Greg asked. He and Pearl looked to Amethyst. "I'm not good at this, so don't look at me!"  
"I know you don't think we trust you, Steven, and I know more often than not we treat you like a human child, but the truth is that we rely on you, for your voice inspires us, binds us, reminds us why we promised to protect Earth. You must now be that voice for the citizens. Should something happen, you must be there to protect them, like your mother once did. It is your destiny." Garnet then gave him a megaphone, watching as Steven ran off with his father.

Eventually, the Crystal Gems returned to the shore, with Pearl and Amethyst fusing into Opal. "Fire!" Garnet ordered.  
Opal fired an arrow, which turned into an arrow storm, still doing nothing to the hand-ship, which then sped up its approach. "I hope Steven is safe..."  
Unfortunately for Garnet's hope, HE CAME BACK! "Guys!" "Steven!" Opal defused out of surprise, with Pearl and Amethyst falling on the ground.

"Steven, what are you doing here?! Go! Run!" Morlax barked. "But-" "It's too late! Just stay behind us!" Garnet ordered.  
The hand-ship stopped just above the water surface, reorienting itself to land its 'fingers' on the shore with the 'palm' facing upward. A strange sphere came out of the 'palm', rolling down to the 'index finger' of the ship, then disappearing, revealing three Gems, consisting of Lapis, Peridot, and a new orange Gem.  
"That'd be them. They're responsible for breaking my machines." "Seriously? This is it?" "Jasper, they are a constant interference to with my work!" "Just another waste of my time... Hey, get over here!" Jasper grabbed Lapis by the arm and pulled the blue gem from behind her. She broke free, then looked at the Crystal Gems.

"So, this is their base?" Jasper demanded. "Yes..."  
"I don't need a map to tell you that this solar system is OFF-LIMITS TO YOU!" Morlax exclaimed. The three newcomers jumped onto the beach, ignoring the Crystal Gems.  
"Neither of you saw Rose Quartz, huh? Such a shame. I'd hoped to meet her... so I could beat her into the ground. Yet this is all that's left of her army? Two lost, defective Pearls, a puny, overcooked runt, a defective crafter, and this shameless display? Pathetic." Jasper scoffed.  
Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet drew their weapons, Vilo summoned a crossbow, and William unsheathed his sword, which caught Jasper's attention. "OK. Credit where credit is due. That is a pretty good sword. Nice design too."  
"The small one, called 'Steven', is just a human." Peridot stated. "I know what a human is. You don't need me for this, so just blast them with the ship." Jasper ordered dismissively. "Ugh... Fine."  
The Homeworld ship reoriented itself to a finger gun position, ready to fire.

"Everyone, get behind me!" At that point, William's gemstone began to glow.

"Firing." The warship fired a beam, but the energy was sucked into William's gem.  
When the sand fell back to the ground, Jasper turned around to see what had happened. Not only had William absorbed the energy blast from the hand-ship, but Steven had put up a shield to protect everyone else. "That shield... That symbol! You! You have the power of Rose Quartz!" William spoke up. "He's not the only one!" "And YOU! What are you?!"  
"This is why I needed an escort!" "Fire a widespread barrage!" Before the hand-ship could open fire again, a massive beam of energy blasted it, causing heavy damage. Jasper looked to the source, seeing the Freedom Shield. "Wait... That ship... You're an Emerald!" "Took you long enough to figure that out!" The orange gem turned her attention to Steven. "Rose, why do you look like that? Why are you so weak?" Now Jasper thinks Steven is Rose Quartz!?

"Don't hurt him!" Lapis defended. "You knew about this, didn't you?!" "This isn't relevant to the mission!" "Forget about the mission!" Jasper barked.  
"What?!" Peridot exclaimed. "Yellow Diamond needs to see this... thing."  
"The only thing Yellow Diamond needs to see is the revenge of an entire species!" William spat.

From under the sand, Garnet emerged, going in for the strike. Jasper formed a sort of helmet, blocking the impact and causing a shockwave to ripple around them, launching Steven and Garnet back. "William, Morlax, get Steven out of here!"  
She went in for another punch, but Jasper pulled out some strange device. "Priming Gem Destabilizer." The device hit Garnet in the chest, completely corroding her physical form until she 'poofed', leaving two gemstones on the sand, one red, one blue.

"I was there, y'know, at the first war for this garbage planet. I fought against your armies, I respected your tactics, but this?! Disgusting!" She picked him up by the shirt. "UNHAND HIM!" Pearl demanded. "I don't get what you're planning, Rose, but look. Your base is taken, your armies are ruined, and you've failed." She then head-butted Steven in the face, giving him a black eye and knocking him unconscious.

Jasper tossed Steven up onto the ship and was about to get onboard herself when William opened fire with the Plasma Buster. She narrowly dodged the beam, sporting an expression of surprise on her face. "That was your only warning shot. Release Steven to us, leave this planet, and never return." "I don't take orders from the dead." With that, Jasper used her Destabilizer on William.  
Unfortunately for Jasper, William appeared to be immune to it, as the yellow lines appearing all over him were flickering and fading, unable to erode his physical form. He swatted the Destabilizer out of Jasper's hand, caught it, stored it in his pocket dimension, and pulled his sword back out.  
"Peridot, we need to end this!" The green Gem then used the ship itself to crush the remaining members of the Crystal Gems, breaking their physical forms.

They were down, but they weren't out. One of them remained, having picked up a weapon left behind. He headed to the Freedom Shield, seeing if he could find a way to get everyone back.  
" _Emerald Morlax, it will take me some time to override the manual control of the Homeworld warship. Be patient. Once I gain control, I will bring them back._ " "I just hope they aren't shattered by then..." " _Have hope._ "

* * *

Well, it started out with Political Power, but then went into The Return, in case you couldn't tell at the beginning.

They will indeed return to Earth.  
As the Freedom Shield said, we must have hope.

See you next time, guys.


	23. CH19

S2-19  
 **Jail Break**

* * *

William woke up in a burst of Emerald energy. Regaining his equilibrium, William examined his surroundings.  
A prison cell on the Homeworld warship.  
He looked at himself, finding that he was in his original form, and just like that, he went back to his human form out of habit.

Instead of bars, the cell had an energy barrier. He cautiously tapped the field, but felt a strange tingling sensation in his finger upon contact. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't exactly... pleasant. William got up and stepped through it, with every nerve ending in his physical form tingling profusely. "Not doing that again..."  
He heard incoming footsteps and saw shadows coming from around the corner. "Looks like I don't have a choice." He jumped back through the barrier, hiding his escape from Jasper and Peridot as they passed by, keeping up the façade by pulling a box of orange juice out of his gemstone and drinking it. Peridot looked at him suspiciously. "What? I got thirsty."  
With that, Peridot moved on, following Jasper to somewhere else on the ship.

Once the coast was clear, William left behind one of his holograms to cover his escape as he hopped back through the field.  
Now was his chance. William had to find the Crystal Gems and return to Earth.

After going through a load of corridors filled with empty holding cells, he found one that had an active force field. Behind it was...  
"Steven!" William pushed his way into the cell in order to wake up the unconscious hybrid. "Will... William...?" Steven was waking up! "Steven! You're OK!" "William! Where are we?" Steven wondered. "Some Homeworld warship. We've gotta find the others! This way!" William tried a new trick, using his gemstone to absorb the energy from the cell's containment field, blowing out the control panel.

Two cells over was a Ged gem, crying in the corner. William absorbed the energy holding her in, getting the small Gem's attention. "WHAT THE-?! Whoa..." "Who are you?" William asked. "Name's Ruby." "I'm William, and this is Steven." "Where's Sapphire?" "No idea who that is."

After a bit of exploring, the Gems found another energy cell. On the other side was...  
"Lapis!" Steven ran to the barrier holding the blue Gem prisoner. She turned to look at the trio. "How did you get out?" Lapis asked. "Allow me to show you." William replied, taking the energy from the field. Lapis was free from that cell.  
"Let's move. We have to find the control center and gain control of this ship." William stated, forming the Plasma Buster.

After more searching, and splitting into two teams of two, the Gems began searching for the others.  
William and Lapis stumbled upon Pearl, Amethyst, Vilo, and Blith. The Emerald freed them all.

Upon rounding a corner, William saw a small blue Gem whoosh by, dragging Steven through the air. "Uh... OK? This way."  
They entered a large room, watching as Ruby and that blue Gem fused, resulting in...  
"Garnet! You... You're a Fusion?!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "Well now. Garnet is a Fusion. You learn something new every day." William said, walking up to the newly reformed group leader. "Find the control bridge and get us back to Earth." Garnet ordered. "I'm staying here. Someone's gotta deal with Mango-face." William stated, standing his ground. The name he just gave Jasper caused the others to stifle a laugh.

The Gems left to search for the bridge as Jasper ran in.  
"Oh great. You're out, and you're in that form again? Why? That form makes you weak!" Jasper spat. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Mango-face, but that's where you're wrong. Emeralds may not believe in the concept of war, but I have four words for this specific moment. LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

Jasper pulled out a new Gem Destabilizer, followed by William pulling out the one he took.  
Before either of them could attack, William formed a pair of green gauntlets, with a shield attached to the left one as he held the Destabilizer in his right.  
William was the first to make a move, sending a bonecrushing punch straight to Jasper's abdomen, sending the Homeworld Gem flying into a wall. He shifted his weapons to form a green bow.  
Jasper narrowly dodged the blast, which tore through thirteen walls.  
She formed her helmet, rushing in to bash William's head in with a lethal head-butt, only for a green gauntlet to clamp onto the hammerhead of the cranium-worn weapon. William pulled it off Jasper's head, then unleashed a skullcracking uppercut, flinging the orange Gem right into the ceiling.  
As Jasper started coming loose from the ceiling, William formed a green spear and stuck it into the ground where the Homeworld gem was gonna land. However, Jasper managed to avoid that finisher, rolling out of the way in midair.  
Jasper picked up her Gem Destabilizer and went in for another strike, only for William to take it from her and crush it in between his hands, flicking away the tiny pebble of metallic alloy that it had been reduced to. Jasper could not believe her eyes at the physical power her opponent possessed.

Just like that, William formed the Plasma Buster, ready to unleash another Godzilla-killer beam.  
Jasper rushed at William, having reformed her helmet. He jumped over her, unleashing hell in a single blast, caving the Homeworld Gem deep through the floor.  
Somehow, the blast also ruptured the energy core of the ship.

William rushed to find the others.  
Once he found the Crystal Gems, William projected a sphere with five layers around them. "Brace for impact!"  
The Homeworld warship crashed back on Earth, leaving the Gems buried under the rubble.

William released the outermost layer of the sphere in a pulse, clearing the rubble from over them, followed by the other layers dissipating. "Nicely done." Garnet praised.  
"Oh... my... gosh! I can't believe Garnet's been a Fusion this whole time!" Steven was awestruck. "Wait... You mean you met Ruby and Sapphire?!" Amethyst asked in response. "Oh, we were going to introduce you! Garnet, what about your plan?" Pearl knew about it too. "We planned to introduce them to you on your birthday." Garnet added. "We can still do it! I'll pretend I didn't know." At Steven's words, Amethyst laughed.

"We're back on Earth... William, who are they?" Lapis asked, seeing Vilo and Blith. "Lapis, meet Vilo and Blith. Blith is a Bismuth given a new life of her own choosing. Vilo is... Well, let's just say she's my adoptive sister, and I couldn't ask for a better one, I care about her that much." "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you." Lapis smiled.  
It was then that the other Emerald showed up. "What'd I miss?" "Morlax! You're OK! Guess what. Garnet's a Fusion!" "Incredible...!"

Suddenly, an orange arm burst out of the rubble and grabbed Lapis by the arm. Jasper still wasn't done! "Come here, you little brat! Lapis, fuse with me!" "Excuse me?!" "How long have they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?" "William discovered me, and then the others found out from him! They apologized, admitting that they didn't know!" "LIES!"  
"Lapis, don't fuse with her! Try me!" William jumped at the ocean gem, causing his physical form to turn into a formless cloud of strange particles that was seemingly vacuumed into his gemstone, which then surrounded itself in energy before zapping into the back of Lapis Lazuli's right hand, causing her own physical form to fluctuate, like a ripple through the surface of water.  
Lapis looked at the green gemstone that had integrated itself into the back of her hand with an unsure expression on her face, looked at Jasper, then sported a confident smirk as two green gauntlets appeared around her arms!  
Jasper was completely caught off-guard at this new type of Fusion. A lethal punch made contact with the side of the orange Gem's face, knocking Jasper down.  
"William, what kind of Fusion is this?" Lapis asked her new Fusion partner. William's voice could be heard from the green gemstone as the glow in it blinked. "Stay focused! Let's show Mango-face here what happens when an Emerald lends another gem their power, shall we?" "Right!"

As Jasper got up, she received another facial-breaker punch, followed by a fist to the gut, then a deadly uppercut to smack her into the air.

Morlax handed Lapis William's sword, and William shared his swordsmanship skills.  
As Jasper jumped back in for round 2, Lapis stabbed her through the chest with the blade. Jasper looked weakly at the blade, then at Lapis with an expression full of surprise.  
William ejected himself from the power-meld Fusion, took a hold of his sword, and looked Jasper in the eyes. "So long, Mango-face. Let's see how you like the storms of Saturn." With that, Jasper 'poofed', leaving her orange gemstone in between William's left thumb and index finger. The Emerald then formed a bubble around the crystal.  
"You're not going to keep her in the Temple?" Pearl asked. "No. The storms of Saturn will make a much better place of exile." William responded, walking back to the Freedom Shield.

One thing's for sure, this was William's way of saying 'If you threaten humanity, **I HAVE A PLACE FOR YOU**.'.

* * *

That's right! We're back!  
No Malachite! No Jasper!

See you next time!


	24. E-D: 4

Emerald documentary  
Part 4: Individuals of interest

* * *

The Emeralds have done many great things, but some of them are considered famous, even by the standards of their own civilization.  
These Emeralds are given marks on their gemstones to indicate their own determined destinies.  
Here are various Emeralds who have done feats of pure amazement.

 **Morlax**  
A lone adventurer who has explored ancient ruins and learned the history of old cultures. His mark resembles a compass. The Emeralds lost contact with him when he was exploring the Facet 5 Kindergarten on Earth.

 **Cade**  
A very talented artist. He specialized in making moving paintings, works of art that moved like videos. His mark resembles a paint brush. He made glorious paintings that capture a sight better than the sight itself shows. ( _His sort of painting talent is inspired by Time Lord art in the Doctor Who episode Day of the Doctor._ )

 **William**  
Among the other Emeralds, William has the largest sense of justice and always strives to do the right thing. This is most likely due to him being a member of the Emerald Order. His mark resembles a planet on a shield. He is not to be angered and does not tolerate the use of a Gem's abilities for simple amusement.  
William still holds a grudge against Yellow Diamond for wiping out his entire species and wants nothing more than to make sure she pays for what she has done.  
William is unexpectedly resourceful and will look around his surroundings to find any advantages in the battlefield. He is rarely seen doing anything just for himself, due to his kind and selfless natural. His gem is currently located on the back of his right hand.  
Like the other Emeralds, William is capable of using various forms.  
 **Gem form**  
William strangely looks like Ben Tennyson from Ben 10 Alien Swarm in normal bodily appearance, but his torso is covered by a green chest plate with blue lines going over his shoulders and around his sides, crossing at the very center of his front and back perfectly. His shoulders are covered with spherical armor in a dark green color. His legs look almost exactly like the legs of a Cyberman from Doctor Who.  
 **Human form**  
Same basic appearance as his gem form, but with a black T-shirt and blue jeans and a pair of Sketchers shoes in perfect condition. His hair is a generic black fashioned in a normal hairstyle. His eyes are sky blue. His skin color is the same color as most of the human race. He is slightly taller than Pearl and has thicker arms and legs. William keeps his clothing as an addition to this form.

 **Thavix**  
This Emerald is a traitor to her own kind. She has become corrupted, but in a different way than expected. Her mark is of a growing darkness. She personally told Yellow Diamond of how the Emeralds prevent her from taking control of every planet and eradicating every other species, so she gave her the location of every Emerald colony and even the Emerald home planet of Epsilon 7-B in return for sparing her alone and allowing her to join the Diamond Authority. Many Gems called her 'Dark Stone' for her betrayal against her species.

The Emeralds are governed by a collection of 19 elite leaders known as the Emerald Order. The Order decreed that any and all sentient races should be given a chance to prove their worth in a peaceful and civilized manner. As such, humanity was deemed worthy, and because the human race was the very birthplace of the Emerald way of life, they labeled Earth as a sacred planet that should be protected and allowed to flourish.

The Emerald Order has developed many Codes for declaration.

 **E-1  
** Uninhabitable planetoid discovered. Send terraforming and atmospheric reshaping technology to help spread the reach of natural life.

 **E-2  
** Emerald Order authorization to allow a terraformed planetoid to become a new Emerald colony.

 **E-3  
** Planetoid is catatonically unstable. Send evacuation fleet and relocate natural inhabitants to closest Code E-1 site.

 **E-4  
** Discovered planetoid is already populated. Do not disturb the natural inhabitants. Let them be.

 **E-5  
** Permanently hostile species discovered. Emerald Order has authorized weaponized force.

 **E-6  
** War discovered. Send groups to both sides for peaceful negotiations.

 **E-7  
** Code E-6 successful. Monitor both sides to prevent future outbreaks.

 **E-8  
** Mark inhabited planets with Emerald technology caches for planetary protection purposes.

 **E-9  
** Solar system star collapse imminent. Scan for natural life forms and evacuate all life immediately.

 **E-10  
** Emerald starship damaged. Dispatch repair crews.

 **E-11  
** Emerald starship destroyed. Salvage AI module and bring survivors to safety.

 **E-12  
** Emerald signature lost. Dispatch recovery team to lost Emerald's last known location ASAP.

 **E-13  
** Emerald corrupted. Purge corruption ASAP.

 **E-14  
** Emerald is terminally corrupt. Divert all resources to isolate and destroy.

 **E-15  
** Gem Kindergarten discovered. Dispatch covert raiding party for gem liberation.

 **E-16  
** Kindergarten raid successful. Bringing liberated gems to Epsilon 7-B for societal integration.

 **E-17  
** Kindergarten raid experiencing complications. Awaiting Emerald Order instructions for complication rectification.

 **E-18  
** Solar system now protected from hostilities by planetary defense plasma cannon array. Install defense grid AI. AI will transmit warning to incoming unauthorized vessels and demand identification. Friendlies are to be granted safe passage. Hostiles are to be discouraged from entering with force. Disintegrate hostile entry.

The following Codes were formed from predictions by liberated Sapphires.

 **E-19  
** Epsilon 7-B under direct attack. All Emeralds are to evacuate the galaxy and hide in planets under Code E-8.

 **E-20  
** Epsilon 7-B destroyed. All survivors are to locate and designate a new home.

* * *

This is getting interesting.

See you all next time.


	25. CH20

S2-20  
 **Keeping it together**

* * *

After sending Jasper into the storms of Saturn, William decided to try and focus on searching for Peridot.  
Since then, the Crystal Gems have found an escape pod from the Homeworld warship, then they encountered some reality-distorting FREAK, causing William to go on 'vacation' for an entire week just to recollect his sanity... ON FREAKING PLUTO! According to the Freedom Shield, William had been incoherently blabbing gibberish nonstop in the original Emerald language the whole time he was there.

He returned just yesterday, having regained his composure.  
"With the Freedom Shield and Path-forger searching for Peridot, we can worry less about what she'll do, and with her pod, we know where she'll go. She came to Earth with a job to do, and she's undoubtedly gonna try to accomplish it, which is why I've gathered you here." Garnet stated. "Oh. So it's not so you could help me fold all this laundry?" Steven asked as he added another folded shirt to a nearby stack, then taking a new one out of the pile in the middle of the floor in the living room area. "Well, that too. Also, the chore wheel idea you had fell apart real fast." Garnet replied. "This one ain't on me." Amethyst defended.  
There was a paper chore wheel on the fridge, and Pearl's name was on every segment, with all other names crossed out.  
"I just really enjoy doing all of those." Oh, Pearl's the one responsible for that. "It's better to do them together." Garnet added.

Amethyst put the book she was reading down and grabbed one of the dozens of red shirts with yellow stars on them. "What if humans just stopped wearing clothes? That'd be a lot funnier." She then witnessed William immediately turn to face her, with two Holo-Williams at his left and right, wearing the same scowl.  
Just as fast as it occurred, the event ended, as if it never happened, leaving a shaken Amethyst to fall as if she were a domino.

"I'm a civilized part-human, thank you very much, Amethyst. Clothing is a must-have. Hmm... This sure is a lot, but I bet this folding would go faster if Ruby and Sapphire were here!" "I'm sure they'd be glad to see you, Steven, but I'm not unfusing for laundry." Garnet replied with a smirk.  
In response, William formed a large group of his holograms, each grabbing a shirt, folding it, and placing it in a stack before beginning the cycle again.  
In a matter of seconds, the pile of shirts were folded into stacks. "William, those holograms of yours are really helpful." Steven commented. "Many thanks."

"Garnet, do you think Peridot would come looking for us?" Pearl asked. "We weren't her priority since she was sent here to do something in the Kindergarten." "Do you think she's still going to try to reactivate it? Ever since William destroyed its power source, I believe the Kindergarten is pretty much inoperable." "We'll stop her. Crystal Gems, let's move." Garnet got up, then walked to the Warp Pad.  
"Coming!" "As long as we don't have to fold anything." Pearl and Amethyst said respectively.  
"Time to get my search on!" Vilo stated, jumping from her sitting position next to the stacked clothing and onto the Pad.  
Blith got up, popped her back, and headed onto the Warp Pad. "I'm thinking about making some armor for you guys. I'm still working on a few designs, and I need to know what you all think." "Armor sounds useful." Morlax stated. "We'll still need to be able to summon our weapons at a moment's notice." William added.  
"I'll head over to the Freedom Shield and see if I can do anything from there." Lapis said, heading out the door.  
"Steven, c'mon!" Garnet called, making Steven go all starry-eyed. He rushed to the Warp Pad, standing ready. Garnet ruffled his hair. "You're a civilized part-gem too after all."  
"Garnet, do you think it's a good idea to bring Steven? This could be dangerous." Pearl asked cautiously. "Peridot's got nothing on us." The Warp Pad activated, sending the Crystal Gems to the Kindergarten.

After a while of examining the area, Pearl broke the silence. "No sign of Peridot so far. I don't think anything's budged since the last time we were here." "Just because Peridot hasn't been here yet, it doesn't mean she won't come." Morlax had a point.  
"Right. Let's do a thorough check of the perimeter so we can monitor any future entry." "Sounds good to me!" Steven stated in response, marching off in a goofy fashion.

While William was scouting the area, he heard a weird yet familiar voice in the form of a shriek. He looked toward the source of the sound, seeing... "Peridot...!" William went back to get the others.  
With the Crystal Gems together, they went in to engage the green Homeworld Gem.  
"Target sighted! Engaged at will!" The Emerald ordered, firing off a few low power bursts from his Plasma Buster.

She turned and ran, scaling a wall as if gravity had turned at a 90° angle. "Pearl, use your spear to dislodge that injector ahead of her path!" William ordered. Pearl threw her spear, yet missed Peridot. "Ha! Missed!"  
Fortunately, Pearl had aimed for the injector in Peridot's path, causing the rusted machine to fall on the green gem, crashing down to the ground.

"Well, she's just been grounded!" Morlax joked.  
Without warning, Peridot burst out from the rubble. Amethyst tethered Peridot with her whip. The green Gem simply sent an electric surge through the weapon, causing Amethyst to let go before it could electrocute her.

"Go ahead, you Crystal Clods! Wreck this place! See if I care! I already got what I care for!" Peridot yelled as she ran away.  
The majority of the group ran after her, consisting of Pearl, Amethyst, Morlax, Vilo, and Blith. "Get back here!" Vilo yelled, firing her crossbow.  
Suddenly, Peridot started flying away, one of her 'hands' having turned into makeshift helicopter blades. As she escaped, the green Gem started cackling like a maniac.

"Hurry, Garnet!" Steven started running to catch up with the others, but Garnet was holding him off the ground.  
"We still don't know what Peridot was doing here. If her mission was to reactivate the Kindergarten, the injectors would be on, but they aren't." "Observant as always." William remarked with respect.  
"Let's see what she was up to. Down here." The Fusion lifted up the fallen injector, revealing the passageway to the Kindergarten control room. "Brains and brawn! You're the whole package!" "Thank you." They high-fived. "It's because you're a Fusion, isn't it?" Steven asked. "There are some secrets I have to keep." "Please? I wanna know!" Garnet chuckled at this.  
"Let's see what's 'behind the scenes', shall we?" William stated as he slid down the passage.

On the way down, he could hear Steven ask another question. "I'm guessing the strong part of you is Ruby and the wise part of you is Sapphire?" "All of both. When two Gems combine, it creates something greater than the sum of their parts, which is why I'm so great."  
The three reached the bottom, seeing some dirt pillars having been forced out of the floor and ceiling. "So, what's it like staying fused all the- Whoa... I don't know how but... this place is even creepier than the last time we were here." "You're right. There's something going on here." "What was Peridot doing?" Steven wondered.  
Garnet looked up, seeing a few pillars jutting from the ceiling. "It looks like she pulled these out of the walls, but why...?"

"I'm sensing... something. I don't know what it is, but I'm sensing... I think I'm sensing other Gems nearby, but... something's not right. Their auras are... fragmented? What's going on?" William formed his Plasma Buster, ready for anything.

A faint sound could be heard from one of the pillars, causing Garnet to investigate.  
The pillar then began to shake. Something was about to happen. "Is there... something in there?" Steven asked cautiously.

Without warning, something fell on the ground behind them. It appeared to be a blue hand attached to a red foot.  
As Garnet picked up the thing, more of them fell from the pillars overhead. "What are they?" The hand-foot thing lunged and grabbed at his face. William pulled the thing off, then destroyed the physical form, revealing two shards of different colors merged as one. "Gems shards? Stuck together?"

William stored the merged fragments in his gemstone pocket dimension. "Might as well get some answers."  
Garnet was increasingly disturbed at the creatures.

A loud cracking sound was heard behind them. "What was that noise?" Steven worriedly asked.  
Just then, the dirt pillar exploded, leaving a cluster of four Gem shards to levitate into the air, surrounded in a bright white energy that formed into various glowing silhouettes that appeared to be trying to separate from each other, only to be forced back together and form what looked like a large hand. The very sight of it left Garnet unresponsive and in shock.

Taking action, William discarded his physical mass, occupied the same space as the creature, and restored his physicality, causing the thing to just burst.  
Witnessing the Emerald's unexpected course of action, Garnet snapped back to reality, staring at the merged Gem shards as William bubbled them.  
She spoke, but it wasn't her speaking, it was Ruby and Sapphire conversing with each other. "THIS is what Homeworld thinks of Fusion?! How could we have known they would do this? All the Gems we couldn't find! They've been here all along! There's no way Rose could've have known. No doubt that this is punishment for the rebellion! It isn't our fault!"

Just then, a voice was heard. "I think they went down here." It was Morlax!  
The rest of the Crystal Gems rejoined the other three.  
Pearl approached Garnet to tell her what happened up on the surface. "Garnet, William, we lost Peridot. She was too fast for us."

It was then that one of the cluster creatures, resembling a green and purple hand merged together at the wrist, crawled up to Blith's face as if it were a spider. She was... alarmingly disturbed at the experience. Vilo flicked it off her face, uncovering the same facial expression William had before he... left for Pluto.  
"Blith, you OK there?" William asked, concerned. "Keep that thing off me..." Wheezed Blith.  
William then picked up the clusterspawn, destroyed its physical form, and stored the merged Gem shards.

Later at Beach City, Blith was busy at her forge, making specialized armor for each of the Gems, except for Steven.  
Each set also came with a retractable covering for gemstone protection and unrestricted weapon summoning, except for the armor Lapis was given, which appeared to have vent-like openings at the shoulder blades, a portable water container attached to the back, and tiny pipes that lined the arms and legs.

Back at the Freedom Shield, William was working to figure out a way to separate the clustered Gem shards, when the AI of the starship came to a conclusion. " _Emerald William, leave the Gems in my analysis chamber. I will see what I can do._ " "It's hard to imagine what Garnet's thinking right now. She seemed to be devastated by the sight of these Gem shards."

* * *

Well, that one's done.

In case you're wondering what their sets of armor look like, do any of you remember when Tony Stark built a suit made of stone in an episode of Avengers Assemble? The armors look like that, but more made of a strong metallic alloy, shaped for each of the Gems, and they have no helmets, with the exception of Pearl's armor, which looks as if it has a sort of visor, but that's it.

See you next time, Crystal Gems.  
Yeah, Uncle Grandpa disturbs me too. My head literally aches whenever I see any of his wacky adventures.


	26. CH21

S2-21  
 **Cry for Help**

* * *

While William was helping Lapis with a few accommodations to help her feel at home on Earth, the Freedom Shield detected a strange signal. " _Emerald William, Lapis Lazuli, I am picking up an irregular broadcast. Displaying now._ "  
A holographic video screen fizzled in, showing nothing but static at first, until it suddenly displayed Peridot. "This is Peridot, transmitting on all frequencies from abandoned crystal system colony planet Earth in an attempt to contact Yellow Diamond. My mission has been compromised. The whereabouts of my escort are unknown, my informant has most likely sided with the remaining rebels, and I am now stranded! SEND HELP! PLEASE!" The transmittion was playing on a loop.  
At that point, a certain Fusion arrived. "William, Lapis, I know where Peridot's broadcasting from."

Later that day, the Freedom Shield arrived at the co-ordinates to the ancient Gem Communication Hub, which was now back in working order. " _Crystal Gems, prepare to disembark._ "  
Once the Freedom Shield landed, the Gems headed out to examine the structure. "Just as I feared." Garnet looked on, observing the semi-repaired communications antenna. "Peridot somehow managed to repair the Communication Hub. Well, some of it." There were, indeed, large chunks of the structure laying on the ground, beyond repair.

"If it's back up, maybe we could apply the same solution as last time?" William pinched the top of the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Steven, no. You don't want a repeat of last time, do you? Tell him, Garnet." "Last time was a complete and total disaster. Last time we fused, Sugilite went berserk, out of control. Because of her, we can't warp here anymore."  
" _Garnet, I have a plan to rectify that._ " One of the Flask Robonoids held onboard the Freedom Shield crawled out, having been successfully reprogrammed by the ship's AI.  
Garnet and William formed their gauntlets and removed the rubble from the destroyed Warp Pad, allowing the reprogrammed Robonoid to repair it.  
With that job done, the Robonoid went back onboard and back into storage. "Freedom Shield, using a reprogrammed Robonoid to fix the Warp Pad here was very helpful." Garnet commented, adjusting her signature shades.

"As you were saying, Garnet?" "Oh, right, thanks for reminding me, William." Garnet turned to Amethyst, resuming her speech. "I can be brash, Amethyst can be reckless, and we can both get carried away. As it stands, Sugilite is benched. We need to be careful. It's Pearl's turn this time. Let's fuse."  
At this, Pearl looked as if she was about to cry. "Don't cry, Pearl. Let's bring it down." "I'm with you."

While Pearl and Garnet initiated their Fusion dance, William, Vilo, and Blith examined the Communication Hub to determine the most effective way of getting rid of it for good.  
Behind them, a pillar of light replaced Pearl and Garnet, seemingly turned into a vanishing curtain, and revealed a new Fusion. "Gooooood evening, everybody! This is the lovely Sardonyx, coming to you live from the soon-to-be-former Communication Hub! How's everyone doin' tonight?"

Steven whooped in utter excitement. "AWESOME!" "Oh my stars! If it isn't Steven Universe! We finally meet. So, what do you think?" Sardonyx bent down, allowing Steven to jump on two of her four hands, followed by William. "Oh, and William, the shining hope of the Emeralds, and operator of the Freedom Shield starship! Was I worth the wait?" Sardonyx's torso did a full rotation on the waist. She was... unusual, to say the least. "What am I talking about? Of course I was!"  
"You're so articulated! Awesome!" Steven said with starry eyes. "Your flexibility is quite intriguing." William stated. "Well, aren't you the sweetest little charmer, Steven! I could literally squish you right now! It would be effortless." Steven was laughing as Sardonyx lightly squeezed him between her two upper hands. "Sorry, I'm just... so excited to be here. You see, I haven't exactly been myself lately." Sardonyx just told a pun! William slightly snickered with a smirk while Steven was flat-out laughing.

Sardonyx then put Steven and William back on the ground.  
"For my first trick..." She summoned Pearl's spear as one of her lower arms tapped her shoulder. She pretended to be distracted before throwing the spear into the sky, summoning Garnet's gauntlets, and combining them with the falling lance to create a large mallet.

Steven was really excited right now. "Are you gonna smash it up with your war hammer?" "Hm... 'Smash' is the word that one would use to describe what... a certain someone would do." Sardonyx was referring to Sugilite, much to Amethyst's displeasure.  
"The proper words used to describe me are..." Sardonyx then went to work, using her war hammer to basically dismantle the Communication Hub piece by piece. "Specific! Intelligent! Accurate! Faultless! Elegant. Controlled! Surgical! Graceful! Aaand... POWERFUL!" Just before delivering the final impact, Sardonyx seemingly stopped in the air. "But yes, occasionally, I am known... to smash." With a light tap, the pillar at the top fell through the rest of the structure, disrupting the broadcast.

With the job done, Sardonyx unformed her war hammer. "Just remember, everybody, if you ever have need of the lovely Sardonyx, let Pearl and Garnet know, I'll literally be there in a flash."  
Before Sardonyx could unfuse, William formed his spear. "Hold this." Sardonyx held the spear, watching as William formed two gauntlets, replicating Sardonyx's war hammer. "Thank you, Sardonyx. It's been a pleasure." "Likewise, William."

Just like that, Sardonyx was gone, with Pearl and Garnet in her place. "Well done, you two... uh... three. The Homeworld Communication Hub on Earth has been destroyed. Now to seal away the pieces and make sure Peridot can't use it anymore." At that point, all the pieces of the Communication Hub were seemingly sucked into William's gemstone, like dust into a vacuum cleaner.

That night, William was finishing up with a tubular sort of establishment under the ocean beyond Beach City's shoreline. Almost the entire structure was made of wooden tubes about 17cm thick, while there was a large chamber in the center of the construct. It wasn't very deep underwater, so the depth pressure, or lack thereof, wasn't an issue.  
William had been looking for online resources, and he found one that seemed very interesting. An early access game by an American game developer known as Unknown Worlds.  
Lapis seemed to find the place very intriguing, and William said that she could add details here and there to make herself feel more at home.  
Within the structure, a communications terminal was provided any time she needed to talk to any of the Gems while staying inside.

William then decided to check on the grow beds.  
His plants were growing quite nicely.

* * *

No need to lie to Garnet, Pearl. **Not now, not ever**.  
Fortunately, Peridot can't send the broadcast with the Communication Hub because WILLIAM FREAKING CONTAINED THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE IN HIS GEMSTONE POCKET DIMENSION!  
I'd ask how large it is, but it's got the storage space of a freaking TARDIS.

This chapter was written, start to finish, in three hours, and in one go. Don't expect that to happen again any time soon.

See you next time.


	27. CH22

S2-22  
 **So close**

* * *

Following Peridot's signal, William brought along Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet to the Galaxy Warp.  
Peridot was there! "Target sighted! Engage!" William ordered. "The jig is up, Peridot!" Steven called out. "What?! How did you know I was here?" Peridot demanded.  
"The Freedom Shield tapped into your escape pod's onboard systems, and used that to hone in on your frequency and track your position." William stated, Plasma Buster at the ready. Steven then stuck his tongue out, pulled an eyelid down, and let out a taunting noise. "Don't you clods have anything better to do than annoy me?"  
In response to Peridot's question, a nearby Warp Pad activated, revealing Vilo with her crossbow and Blith holding a war hammer surging with electricity.

"I don't have time for this! This planet has an expiration date, and I'm not gonna stick around to find out what it is!" From Peridot's augmented right arm, a blaster was formed, releasing an energy blast, which Steven blocked with his shield. William then returned fire, and Peridot scrambled to get the heck out of the way.

With his target recovering, William unsheathed his blade and went in to attack. The massive sword barely missed Peridot, yet sliced right into the platform. "Hahahaha! You missed!" Peridot taunted, landing on a damaged Warp Pad. "UGH! Doesn't anything work on this cruddy planet?!"

"I don't know if this does, because I haven't tested it yet!" Blith stated, throwing her electrified mallet. The impact caused an electrical explosion, which sent Peridot flying through the air.

Pearl and Vilo rushed to catch Peridot as she fell, only to accidentally collide with each other as Peridot's levitating fingers went into helicopter configuration.  
"Pearl, get off!" With unanticipated force, Vilo shoved Pearl off of her, resummoned her crossbow and pursued Peridot, who landed on a functional Warp Pad. "Wow. This is just sad. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost." Peridot stated before she warped away, mimicking Steven's mocking expression.

Upon returning to the Freedom Shield, William checked on the starship's systems. " _Emerald William, I am still monitoring the signal frequency for Peridot's positio-_ " An alarm sounded, and a 3-D holographic display of the Earth was projected as the room darkened. " _Signal localized. Warp Pad accessible._ "

Through the Warp Pad, the Gems arrived at the location of an ancient Homeworld transport ship. "Peridot's getting desperate, and she's cornered. Time to end this." Pearl stated. "What is this?" Steven asked. "Good question. Freedom Shield?" The Scout Drone projected a holographic depiction of more of those ships approaching and landing on Earth. " _This is an ancient interplanetary Gem ship. Transportation vessels like this were used by Homeworld Gems to travel across space and land on Earth before Warp Pads were built on the planet. However, these vessels landed so long ago that the possibility of them remaining functional is a near-impossibility._ " "Peridot's running low on options." William added, popping his knuckles.

"We can't waste time. Let's focus on the task at hand." Garnet ordered.  
William popped his back, elbows, and neck before replying. "Time to uphold the mission." "I'm pretty sure I heard that line on that one thing you were watching on your personal laptop." Amethyst stated. "The 'singleplayer' trailer for this game called 'Titanfall 2'. I know. Now then... Protocol 2: Uphold the Mission."

The Gem ship was filled with plant life, showing just how long it's been here. "It's more like a greenhouse than a spaceship." "Gonna have to agree with you on this one, Steven." William said. "I think Earth won this battle." Amethyst added. " _Indeed. This vessel has been claimed by natural growth via the tides of time._ "

A control panel up ahead activated, and the onboard projector displayed Peridot's face. "You Gems are as dull as dirt! You followed me to your doom!" "If you think you can fly this massive heap of dusty garbage, then YOU'RE the dull one!" William spat back, his voice vaguely echoing on the other side of the transmission. "What? Can you speak louder? Some of these communicators are gunked up."

William grabbed a microphone, brushed off the plant growth, and yelled into it. "YOU'RE THE DULL ONE IF YOU THINK YOU CAN FLY THIS DIRTY PILE OF DUST!" It could be heard loud and clear on the other end as Peridot yelped and jumped back, it was a bit TOO loud and clear.

She got back up and regained her composure. "Fly?! I'm not using this vessel to fly! I'm using it to trap you!" The entryway behind the group closed shut. In response, William blasted it open with his Plasma Buster without even looking. "You were saying?" Peridot obviously didn't consider that one of the Crystal Gems was an Emerald. "Um... Yeah. ~sigh~ I keep forgetting about the Emerald..."

Just then, the internal laser defenses came online. "They work! Haha! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" They opened fire, only for William to destroy the laser turrets with ease. "Just stop trying, Peri-brat. Whatever you send against me, I can BREAK it!"

They headed into a hallway, and William's eyes flashed. "Stop!" Good timing. The hall erupted into a spike trap. "Everyone, stay close." The Gems gathered as William formed a green bubble around them, rolling it through the spiked corridor.

The spike-ageddon was finally over, and up ahead was Peridot... or so they thought. The green bubble ran her over, only to reveal a hologram. "Oh, wow, I'm REALLY glad I wasn't actually there." Peridot's voice could be heard through the ship's integrated internal speakers.

Under the bubble, a hidden trapdoor opened, dropping them into a funnel.  
The bubble unformed, releasing the Crystal Gems as William summoned his shield and made it expand, blocking them into the chamber just above the bottom.  
Not everyone was on it. Pearl, Garnet, and Blith fell to the bottom. "We're fine!" Garnet called.  
Suddenly, the floor closed above the three.

Wasting no time, William formed his Plasma Buster, built up a tremendous amount of power, and blasted a hole through the floor.  
With the three other Gems in sight, William proceeded to summon two whips and numerous spears, combining them into a makeshift ladder. "Everyone OK?"

"That was actually quite a display of creativity, William. You really know how to think outside the box." Blith commented. "Thank you, my friend."  
The Crystal Gems then continued the pursuit for Peridot, aided by William's Echo-pulse.

William then proceeded to blast down a wall, revealing Peridot in the control room. "Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Surrender, Peridot." William ordered in a deadpan tone. "That 'ship to ship' video you saw?" Amethyst questioned. "Yeah, that one guy who calls himself 'Viper'."

"Uh... Heheheheh... Will you look at that. Time to go!" With that, Peridot blasted a hole in the ceiling, catching everyone off-guard. Her 'fingers' went in to helicopter configuration, allowing Peridot to fly away. "I'd love to stick around, but that Emerald is gonna formulate another capture plan any second now, and I don't want to be around when he does!" As Peridot laughed, William threw Steven at her. Exceptional aim!  
"Gotcha!" Steven was holding onto Peridot's foot! "Hey! Let go of my gravity connector!"  
The Scout Drone from the Freedom Shield grabbed a hold of Peridot's leg, the same one Steven was holding onto, and reversed thrust, trying to bring the Homeworld Gem back down.

William and Amethyst formed their whips, wrapping them around Peridot's leg, and William formed his replicated gauntlets, pulling with greater force while Garnet was tugging on Amethyst's whip. "Don't let go! It's time to end this!" William ordered, making headway in bringing Peridot down.

With that, Peridot clicked an unseen button on her boot, causing the foot to detach. The momentum sent the gems into a wall and flung Peridot into the air. "You'll pay for this, Crystal Gems. I won't forget this! I'll get you back!" "Ugh... She got away again!" William groaned. "It's OK, William. We'll get the rest of her next time." Pearl stated, holding up Peridot's severed foot. "It's a good 'step' forward." Garnet added. "Foot joke!" Steven laughed. "'Foot joke'... Tch. Egh..." William wasn't laughing.

Back at Beach City, William caught Lapis up on what happened. "Well, the more you try, the closer you'll get. With only one foot, Peridot may have a mobility handicap." "Right. It won't be long now."

* * *

Indeed. Peridot, your day of reckoning is at hand.

See you next time.


	28. CH23

S2-23  
 **Questionable 'containment'**

* * *

As William was meditating atop the Beach City lighthouse, he sensed that something wasn't right. When he got down to the Temple house, he noticed that Steven was gone! "Steven? Steven, where'd you go?!"  
One of the Scout Drones entered the house. " _I have detected a Warp Pad activation. Destination: Galaxy Warp._ "  
With that, William gathered the other Gems, bringing them to the Galaxy Warp.

"Steven, there you are!" William ran over to the boy's side, his green gemstone glowing white with a healing aura. "Are you OK?" "I'm fine, William."  
"PERIDOT!" Garnet yelled. Peridot was there. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"  
Morlax jumped in, wielding an ancient piece of Emerald weaponry. He found an Emerald pulse rifle! The weapon released a stream of pure energy, being fed directly from his gemstone. "Engage!" The Emerald adventurer called out.

As Peridot tried to fly away, Amethyst got her with her whip. The Homeworld Gem shot electricity through the whip, only for Garnet to grab it. "Sorry, Peridot! Not this time!" With the shock redirected back at Peridot, Garnet slammed her down.

Vilo proceeded to flank Peridot, pulling back the string of her crossbow. "Wait, wait! You- you need me! I'm... the only one who knows ABOUT THE-" Before Peridot could finish, William jagged his sword through her back. Peridot's physical form was destroyed, leaving various mechanical objects to fall on the ground. "What in the...?!" Pearl was flabbergasted. "Ugh... Gross. There's pieces of her everywhere." Amethyst looked as if she was about to barf.

"No, she's right here. Garnet, care to do the honors?" William tossed Peridot's gemstone to Garnet, who bubbled and sent it to the Temple as Pearl examined the devices. "These weren't actually parts of her body? Fascinating."  
William gathered the pieces, then stored them in his gemstone to analyze back at the Freedom Shield.

"Garnet, I think she was trying to tell us something." Steven said, concerned. "Just the desperate lies of a Gem who's been caught. No need to worry about her anymore." Garnet reassured him. "C'mon, Steven. It's finally over... Thank the stars." Pearl was definitely relieved. "Let's head home. I'm... ~yawn~ tired." Morlax had bags under his eyes. That Emerald pulse rifle really drew a lot of energy right out of him.

After dropping off the limb augments at the Freedom Shield, William returned to the Temple and got himself a glass of milk and a Devil Dog cream cake. As he was chewing up his second bite, the Temple door opened. "Stop! They're gonna see you!" Steven's voice called. Out from the Temple came... a very small Peridot. "FREEDOM!" She slowly turned around, seeing the gems that were now staring at her.

William put his Devil Dog and glass of milk down on the coffee table, swallowed the bite he had in his mouth, and formed his Plasma Buster, causing Peridot to run straight into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. "You may have won the war, but the battle isn't over, Crystal Clods!"

"I think we tell her that's the bathroom." Pearl suggested. "It's not like she's gonna know what that is." William had a point there. "Peridot, open this door!" Garnet yelled. The sound of the toilet flushing could be heard. "If you're trying to flush yourself down the toilet, it won't work. I've tried." Amethyst stated. "Ew." William was genuinely disgusted.

"How did she get out? We bubbled her." Pearl was right about that. "Maybe we needed a bigger bubble." Amethyst was being ridiculous. "My bubbles are just fine." Garnet replied.

"I did it..." Everyone turned to look at Steven. "Steven, why would you do that?!" Pearl questioned the child. "She knows something, something she's scared of!" "Homegirl knows we're just gonna beat her into a green pancake." Amethyst replied. "No, not us, something called 'the Cluster'." Steven explained. "'Cluster'? Huh. Interesting." Garnet was intrigued.

"What else did she say, Steven?" "That's all I got, William." Just then, Peridot yelled out again. "That's right, you dirt bombs! You have no idea what's coming!"  
"I'm tired of playing these games. If we can't fight her, then we'll talk. Peridot!" Garnet called into the bathroom. From outside, they could hear Peridot having fallen off of something. "No more fighting. Let's just have a civil conversation." "I'd NEVER negotiate with a FILTHY WAR MACHINE!" In response, Garnet formed her gauntlets. "OK, let's pulverize her rear end." "Wait!" Steven stood in the way. "Yeah! Destroy me again, and have fun trying to talk to me when I'm in a bubble!" Peridot's psychological integrity seemed to be becoming questionable.

"I really hate to say it, but if she has information, she's more valuable to us like... this." Pearl stated. "This is going to be difficult." No doubt about that, William.

"HOT HOT HOT!" Peridot accidentally turned on the hot water. "The other knob is for cold!" Steven called to Peridot. "Steven, do you still have that piece of one of Peridot's augmentations?" William asked. "Oh, you mean that foot from one of her limb enhancers? Sure thing." Steven went up to his room, grabbed the foot, and brought it back down. "Thank you, Steven. I should be able to analyze the full set now."

William brought the foot back to the Freedom Shield, reattached it to the rest of the leg, and got to work on a full-scale analysis of the salvaged tech.

Meanwhile, Peridot refused to leave Steven's bathroom, which caused minor, yet bizarre, problems for the hybrid.

* * *

Well, that one took quite a bit to figure out.

Amethyst, no dumping Peridot's limb enhancers in the ocean! William may have a use for them yet.

See you next time, guys.


	29. CH24

S2-24  
 **Recollection and discovery**

* * *

It was storming outside, and William was helping Steven prepare some stew, using a recipe the Emerald picked up on his travels.  
Peridot was still in the bathroom, the Crystal Gems had left recently, Vilo and Blith went to go visit Lapis, Morlax was still out investigating an ancient Emerald signature the Path-forger detected, and the Freedom Shield was decrypting the files stored on Peridot's limb enhancers.

"The others left, Peridot. It's just you, me, and William. You can come out now." Steven called to their 'guest'. "No! I... I like it in here!" "OK then."

William closed the fridge, bringing out a few carrots. He put them on a cutting board, grabbed a knife, formed a green gauntlet for protection, and started cutting the orange vegetables at an impressive speed. "She needs to learn how things work around here, don't you think?" "You're right about that, William. I'm sure if she took the time and effort to learn more about Earth, she might not want to do bad things to it." That's Steven, always looking on the bright side of things.

While Steven stirred the pot of diced potatoes and tomatoes, William finished chopping the carrots. With William's focus shifted, a metallic clang was heard. He looked at the board, seeing that the knife had collided with the gauntlet. He lifted the tool, finding it deformed, having dents in the blade from his replicated handwear. "I'll ask Blith to buff that out later." He stated, putting the knife aside and adding the carrot slices into the stew. "Good thing you had that gauntlet on, or else you might've cut yourself." Steven had a point. That was some good thinking on William's part. "So, William, I've been meaning to ask you something." "Go ahead, Steven." William said as he took a drink from the fridge. "What was it like when you crash-landed on Earth after Yellow Diamond's forces destroyed your home planet?"  
In surprise, William hit the back of his head on the top of the fridge's interior. The question Steven asked even intrigued Peridot, who opened the bathroom door.

William went over to the couch and sat down, collecting his thoughts. Before he could begin, a Scout Drone from the Freedom Shield entered the house. " _Emerald William, I have just received a report from Emerald Morlax. He has discovered another Emerald cache hidden on Earth._ " "Well, we did leave caches on various inhabited planets so we could defend the inhabitants as a result of Code E-8, so it would make sense that he'd find them here. Plus, he had that Emerald pulse rifle with him last time we went to the Galaxy Warp."

"Freedom Shield, William was about to tell me a story!" Steven said excitedly. Peridot spoke up. "Actually, he was about to recount the details of his actions following a crash-landing he experience several decades ago." At this point, the Scout Drone began recording the story of how William roamed the Earth for over a hundred lifetimes... alone.  
"Let me tell you how it all began. It was over a couple dozen centuries ago. I was just running a routine diagnostic check on the Freedom Shield's sentient onboard AI, nothing special. Without any warning, a fleet of what I could only assume to be several thousand war ships appeared in orbit of Epsilon 7-B. It was fight or flight, and I chose flight. Vilo and Blith were onboard at the time. Our ships have advanced anti-tracking matrices, so I don't know how they found us. Anyway, I took off, leaving Epsilon 7-B behind. They used about a hundred of those red eyeball things on the planet itself, causing the crust and mantle to break apart, leaving the planet's molten core open to attack. Just like the Emeralds that didn't evacuate, Epsilon 7-B... was shattered..." He stopped, welling up with grief for the rest of his kind. "Everyone I ever knew... gone..."

He looked at Steven and Peridot, who both had tears in their eyes. He wasn't done, so William continued. "However, we didn't escape unscathed. The Freedom Shield's flight stabilizers were damaged, and the onboard navigation systems were becoming increasingly unstable. I had no choice but to activate the warp drive. With damaged thrusters, I couldn't control the ship's course. Vilo, Blith, and I entered the escape pod, unmaking our physical forms for safety. The pod was ejected, but I was the only one released after landing since the systems were damaged. For centuries, I walked the Earth on my own. You'd think I'd go insane, but my psychological integrity is better than that. With no guidance, I roamed the planet, blending in with the local inhabitants, humankind. I almost felt a romantic interest in one, but she was already married. After centuries of traveling, something happened in the sky while I explored what humanity calls the Amazon rainforest, and my hand burned. Somehow, I had been corrupted. Black corruption veins were spreading from my gemstone, but the energy coursing through it kept the corruption in check." He winced at the pain he felt at the moment he was first corrupted.

"Over the next few centuries, I encountered mutated gem monsters. Without a weapon of my own, I had to use the environment as my weapon, turn the surroundings against them. As I fought one of them, I encountered the Crystal Gems, and they brought me here. Since then, I've managed to help them in their missions, and I found a piece of Emerald tech that burned out my corruption. An Emerald Energy Reservoir, brimming with power. During my time with them, I gained enhanced replicas of their weapons and abilities. I found my way back to the crash site of the Freedom Shield not too long after, only to realize that the onboard AI was still functional, and it was repairing itself during my travels."

William continued telling his story, seeing how Steven and Peridot were enthralled with every detail of his 'adventure'. "I found an old friend of mine, Morlax, in the Facet 5 Kindergarten, but he was shattered. Thankfully, since I replicated and enhanced Steven's healing ability, I managed to bring him back together. His own ship, the Path-forger, was nearby. Evidentially, Path-forger went into hibernation mode, shutting down its generator, and going completely offline. I manually rebooted the generator, bringing the Path-forger back online. Just so you know, the Path-forger is an Emerald terraforming vessel. Bringing it back online was essential to help human life colonize other worlds. Heh... Me and Morlax have known each other since we successfully developed sentient starship operating system AIs. We lost contact with him about 53 years later while he was on Earth. I guess... that's the end of the story of how I got here... plus a little of what happened after. Any questions?"  
Peridot raised her hand. "Yes, Peridot?" "Do you happen to know why Yellow Diamond's forces attacked Epsilon 7-B in the first place?" "No, they never told us. It was all 'destroy first, ask questions never'. They seemingly attacked for no reason." Peridot had another question. "How do you think Yellow Diamond's forces even found Epsilon 7-B?" "I don't know. I don't think anyone did." "You believe yourself and Morlax to be the last of your kind. I must report that I've seen another." William and Steven were surprised at Peridot's words. "Another Emerald? Alive?!" "Yes. I overheard various other gems refer to her as the 'Dark Stone'."

William then showed Peridot the marking on his gemstone. "Each Emerald has a mark on their gemstone that determines their destiny. What mark did this Emerald have?" "I have actually seen this mark once or twice. It looks like... um..." William gave Peridot a pencil and a piece of paper. "Thank you." She drew the mark she saw. It looked like a vortex with twelve spider leg-like spindles originating from it. William remembered that mark all too well. It haunted his nightmares. "Thavix..."  
" _Accessing recorded databanks. Thavix was an Emerald with questionable behavioral patterns and ideals looked down upon by the Emerald Order. During a Kindergarten raid, Thavix vanished. No Emerald search parties reported any success in locating her. Her recorded status is unknown._ "

Suddenly, thunder struck, causing Peridot to panic. "IT'S HAPPENING!" "What's happening?" William asked cautiously. "THE CLUSTER IS FORMING!" "Are you sure, Peridot?" "What else could be making that horrible-" Thunder struck again, cutting her off. "AHHHHH! It's pounding on the Earth from the inside! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!" " _Global seismic readings indicate otherwise. Common Earth weather condition: thunderstorm. A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, or a thundershower, is a type of storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. Thunderstorms occur in association with a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus._ " The Freedom Shield explained. "Uh... What?" Peridot was genuinely confused. "Yeah. Everything is fine. It's just thunder. It happens when it rains." Steven stated. "Sometimes when it rains. Other times, there's rain, but no thunder." William added.  
"You don't know about rain?" Steven asked the small gem. "I've never heard of this." "Peridot, allow me to educate you on this. When the sun heats up water, it evaporates, turning into water vapor which builds up in the atmosphere, becoming clouds. When it cools down, the vapor reverts back into a liquid and falls back down, thus it rains. If it's especially cold, the vapor becomes solid, leading to a cold white powder known as snow." William explained.

" _The stew is ready._ " The Scout Drone turned off the stove and prepared four containers that doubled as food bowls, filling them with the soup before heading out, leaving two for Steven and William.

After finishing the meal, Steven headed outside into the rain. William and Peridot headed out to follow him, but Peridot stayed just inside the doorway.  
Feeling the calm pitter-patter of the rain, William sat down and relaxed.  
Peridot, still uneasy about the rain, carefully and hesitantly stepped outside. "Quite peaceful, wouldn't you agree, Peridot?" William asked.  
Down below, Steven was playing in the rain, having a good time. William could hear Peridot reply in awe. "Cool..."

Getting up to head back inside, William called for the hybrid. "Steven, I think you better come inside! It's starting the get chilly out here! You don't to get sick with pneumonia, do you?" Steven quickly rushed back into the house.

William proceeded to clean the mud off of Steven, rubbing him dry with a towel afterwards. "That was fun." "Fun for you, relaxing for me." William stated. "It was... something." Peridot said, deep in thought. "Steven? William?"  
"Hm?" "Yes, Peridot?" The two turned their attention to Peridot with curiosity. "There's something I have to say." After a long pause, Peridot said it. "Thank you." "Uhh... What for?" Steven asked, confused. "For explaining this 'rain' business to me." "Oh, no problem." Steven chuckled. "Yes. You're both much more intelligent than I initially believed." William spoke up. "That's an... interesting thing to hear." "Yes, and the both of you are much more useful than those clods." That word again, it irritated William, grated on his nerves.  
"Steven, William, I've made up my mind." Peridot stated. "What's this about?" William wondered. "I've decided to share some... info with you." "I know you use my tooth brush." Steven simply put. "No. Well... Yes." "Brushing your teeth leads to good oral hygiene." William stated. "It's about the Cluster." Peridot added. "The Clus- Hang on." William headed to the door. "William, wait!" Peridot called. Just in time. William stopped right in his tracks.

"You have to tell the Crystal Gems! They need to know!" Steven stated. "No! I don't want to talk to them! You're the only ones I need! I can show you now, but I have nothing! My arm attachments, my fingers, my screen, my log, it's all gone! However, all of my logs up to date 6-5-2 still exist, backed up in Facet 5 of the Prime Kindergarten!" Peridot explained. "If we're going to the Kindergarten, you'll need some security, just in case." William stated, shape-shifting his right arm into the Plasma Buster.

With that, they used the Warp Pad and arrived at the Kindergarten. "This is the place." William stated, looking over the area. "OK! Let's go!" Steven started walking out, but an arm got in his way. "Hang on. Wait right here." William jumped down, shape-shifting himself into a basic industrial lift.

Steven and Peridot walked onto the platform, causing the guardrails to come up. William's voice was heard from the terminal. "Going down. Please remain behind the railing while the elevator is in motion." In a matter of seconds, they reached the bottom. "You have reached your destination. Please exit the lift platform." The two stepped off, watching as William reverted back to his artificially created human form.

"Hmm... William, how is it that this form was immune to a Gem Destabilizer?" Peridot asked. "Just a little Emerald invention. Synthetic particles, used by Emeralds to create fully organic forms down to the atomic level. It basically creates a living organism, which would remain neurologically blank, unless melded with an Emerald. What you see now is a result." William explained. Peridot was genuinely fascinated.

"Every time I come here, this place just gets worse." Steven remarked. He wasn't wrong, the place looked like it was slowly falling apart. "I know. It's been so poorly managed." Peridot stated.

After a while of walking, Peridot spoke up again. "That shield though... You're some kind of quartz, right?" Peridot had no idea. "Peridot, let me educate you on human biology. Steven, why don't you go on ahead? Find the main control room, some answers to our questions may lie there." William ordered. Steven pulled off a salute and went on ahead.

Steven found the dusty elevator shaft in the ground and slid down, ending up in the control room. The chamber was dark, hard to see.

After waiting around for a bit, he heard voices. "-even must be like a completely new species if that's the case. Seriously... Half-human and half-Gem? We thought it to be impossible!" "Well, just because something's never happened before, that doesn't mean it's impossible, which reminds me of a human expression: 'First time for everything'." Peridot and William said respectively as they joined Steven in the control room.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Steven wondered. "Yeah, I'm questioning it as well. Last time we were here, this place held dismembered body parts of other Gems that were disturbingly stuck together." "Yes, I was checking their progress. When it became clear that the Earth was no longer a viable colony, Homeworld decided to use it for something else. A series of experiments. A Gem geo-weapon." Peridot said. "I assume you assisted the initial development of this twisted project of theirs?" William asked. "No, I wasn't lucky enough to be around for that, but I read over a few hundred years of reports." "Right then, and I'm guessing this is where we need to be, correct?" "Yes. I'm going to have to remove this panel and do a bit of work to restore power to this room." Peridot said, pressing an unseen button, making a panel differentiate itself from the rest of the wall.

William pulled the panel off, allowing Peridot to access the power cables underneath. "Hmm. There's no power in these wires. I guess that's a result of there being a massive hole where the power source once was."  
"Let me help you with that." William shape-shifted his lower right arm into a small box with half a dozen jumper cables sticking out. Peridot connected the cables to the power grid, prompting William to use his own energy to power the chamber. It worked quite well, until a few sparks flew from the wiring, causing a power outage for a second. It had worked TOO well.

"OK, that's too much power." Peridot said, stepping away from the power cables. "Noted. Now then, what about the Cluster?" Peridot went to a control pedestal, helped up by Steven so she could lower it down to their height, and accessed the information for display. A massive load of Gem shards were projected on the surrounding screens. "These are the early attempts at artificial Fusion."  
"That's a lot of Gem shards..." "You said it, Steven." William was gaping at the plethora of Gem shards that were being displayed on the monitors.  
"We were growing them here at this very site, but these were just prototypes for the final product." Peridot stated as she prompted a holographic globe to be projected, displaying a mark that appeared to be close to the east coast of North America. "A singular, giant, artificial Fusion, comprised of millions of Gem shards. The Cluster."  
"Let me get this straight... There is an amalgamation abomination INSIDE THE PLANET?!" William was starting to freak out. "When it forms, it'll be much, much bigger than the Earth. Right now, it lies dormant, incubating in the Earth's core, but when it emerges and takes its physical form, it will destroy the planet from the inside. The prototypes are already emerging, and the Cluster is next. If we can't get off this planet, we've must find a way to stop the Cluster." Peridot said.

The chamber darkened, having lost power. William unhooked his gemstone energy pool from the control center. "Let's just find it and get rid of it." He said, climbing up the elevator shaft.

When Steven and Peridot caught up to him, they saw William fighting off clustered Gem mutants, destroying their physical forms with his sword, the blade of which appeared to be on fire. He struck the ground, forming a crack in the rock that heated up in seconds, releasing an explosion of molten rock under one of the mutants.

Once the Gem mutants were all gone, William sheathed his blade, coincidentally followed by the Warp Pad activating. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were on it. They showed up just in time to see William send all the bubbled Gems back to the Temple.  
"Steven, are you alright?" Pearl was the first to speak, and she was worried. "I took care of it, Pearl. Not a scratch on him." William stated, patting out some smoke on his left sleeve. They saw that Peridot was with them.  
"What's Peridot doing here?!" Amethyst demanded. "Steven, I told you to keep an eye on her." Garnet sounded disappointed. "I know, but-" Steven was interrupted by Peridot. "He did what he was told! Listen up, you clo- nyargh... Crystal Gems. I've made up my mind. I have something to tell you about the Cluster."

* * *

Took me a while, but MAN I distracted myself! Doing some Strikes on Destiny 2 and looking for Guardians to join my Clan. I was pretty busy.

William retold his experiences following the Freedom Shield crash-landing on Earth. He's been around, I have to admit. Synthetic particles though... I forgot to add that to the Emerald Documentary, but it's pretty much how William described them.

See you next time, and we will learn more.


	30. CH25

S2-25  
 **Mechanized mishap**

* * *

After Peridot's eventual decision to share information about the Cluster, the Gems regrouped at the Freedom Shield. "With no other options left, I have conceded to reveal some important information to you Crystal Gems." A holographic projection of the Earth was displayed in the middle of the control room. "At the very center of the Earth's core lies the Cluster." The hologram shifted to display the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core of the Earth.

Peridot pointed to the inner core. "The Cluster is a massive artificial Fusion composed of millions of Gem shards. For thousands of years, it has laid dormant within this planet's crust. When this Gem geo-weapon activates and takes its form, the result will be catastrophic." The hologram of the planet began developing massive cracks, glowing with Gem regeneration energy, increasing in intensity until it exploded, leaving a sickeningly grotesque face with green gelatinous skin and six yellow eyes where the planet once was, letting out bloodcurdling monstrous screams. The display terrified Peridot beyond belief, and she struggled to maintain her composure. "It could activate at any moment." She finished.

"That abomination must be stopped." Garnet stated. "No doubt about that, Garnet. Freedom Shield, what's your recommended course of action?" William asked the AI. " _I recommend the construction of a drill capable of withstanding up to 3,600 kilobars of pressure and 9800°._ " The Freedom Shield estimated. With that, the gems headed to an old barn, filled with various pieces of equipment and materials.

"What we have here in the barn should be within acceptable limits, so we should begin basic blueprint construction. I says we should start by organizing the component types, then assemble a rough blueprint based off what we have available to maximize productivity." Pearl stated, showing Peridot the barn's contents. Steven was over by the Warp Pad, playing Checkers with one of William's holograms.

William was using a piece of chalk to draw up a drill blueprint, and MAN was it advanced! William had to use his Nano-construction ability just to fit every single detail on the chalkboard!  
Peridot examined the diagram, finding it more than adequate enough for their needs. "Hmm. The drill blueprint is remarkably well made. I never knew Emeralds were so technologically advanced." "How do you think we developed sentient starship AIs? In fact, the Path-forger is currently on Mars's smaller moon, Deimos, and it was never told to go there. I know this because the Freedom Shield told me on the way here." William said. "I assume the Path-forger is on Deimos for atmospheric and geologic analysis?" "Indeed."  
"It looks like we must procure the neccesary materials. William's already gotten the blueprint figured out. His Nano-construction ability can perfectly reshape raw materials into complex machines, he might be able to build the drill in a matter of seconds." Pearl surmised. "No. Nano-construction has a limit. The wooden bridge and starship landing pads were easily constructible due to their low-tech blueprint. I can only create structures, technological components."  
"This all seems very much adequate. No doubt I can work with this. The Pearl may go now." Peridot stated dismissively, getting a few confused looks in response. "Um... That will be all?" Peridot was trying to shoo Pearl away. She then whispered to William. "Pssst... How do you get her to leave?"  
Pearl heard Peridot's question. "I'm not leaving." "Pearl's staying with us to help gather the materials we need, and to help build the drill." William added.  
To this, Peridot started laughing. "No no... You're confused. A Pearl can't build a thing like this." "What makes you say that?" William questioned, showing slight irritation. "Well, for starters, Pearls aren't for this! They're for standing around, and looking nice, and holding your stuff for you."  
"That's enough! If we're going to work together, you're going to have to listen to me." Pearl stated angrily. "Listen to YOU?" Peridot broke out into laughter. "Did you Gems teach her to talk like this?" "You're starting to annoy me, Peridot." William warned, Plasma Buster at the ready. "Oh, come on! She's a Pearl, a made-to-order servant just like the hundreds of other Pearls being flaunted around back on Homeworld." "Last I checked, Homeworld has no jurisdiction here. This planet has its own government, legislature system, and above all, leaders of its own who were perfectly qualified for leadership!" William spat, only for Peridot to completely ignore him.  
"Who do you belong to anyway?" Peridot asked, examining Pearl's sash. Pearl snatched it away. "NOBODY!" "Then you can belong to me for now. Ha! A Peridot with a Pearl. What would they say back home?" At this, Pearl was beginning to snap. "Now listen here, you tiny twerp! In case you've forgotten, you're on our turf now, and I didn't fight for this planet's independence to take orders from YOU!" "Excuse me?! I am a natural technician and a certified Kindergartener. I was made for this! YOU were made to take orders, not to give them!" In the arguing, William noticed that the commotion had drawn Steven's attention. He was coming right this way.  
"I'm as good at building things as you! Better even!" Pearl proclaimed. "Name one thing, ONE THING, you can engineer better!" Steven had an idea, and stars in his eyes. "You should build robots giant robots! We'll hold a robot competition to see who's better at building stuff!"

"What are 'robots'?" Peridot questioned, unaware that she had built and operated over eighty of them. William responded by projecting a hologram of a Flask Robonoid from his gemstone. "Imagine one of your Robonoids, but on a much larger scale."

At that point, Pearl and Peridot ran into the barn, constructing their machines. "Building one of these robots will be easy!" "Well, I can build one faster!" Pearl scoffed. "That's what you think!"  
"Steven, think you can add a third contestant to this contest? I've gotta go and get some building materials." "OK, William!" Steven stated, adding William's name to the blank side of the chalkboard as the Emerald headed to the Warp Pad.

Later that day, William returned, having finished his latest creation. A Titanfall-inspired humanoid machine, with a newly created Emerald AI installed, following William to this new event Steven was hosting.  
Upon arrival, he handed Steven a list of contest round suggestions. Speed, strength, balance, reaction time, and autonomous control.

After playing a round of Checkers against Garnet, and somehow winning, he saw a robot with an airplane-like body, long arms with three-fingered hands, and extended legs with movable knees and large wheels for feet. Pearl's robot was operational.  
Another robot came out of the barn, sporting a green and vaguely crablike appearance, short legs with green boots, slightly longer arms with pincer-like clamps for hands, and a small opening in the center where Peridot was sitting. "Behold... my vision of ultimate power!" It was then that Peridot realized that her robot was the shortest of the three. "Ugh..."

It was time to start this competition. "Ladies and gentle-Gems, welcome to the first annual Robolympics! This competition will test our robo-engineers' skills of robo-construction and robo-piloting. Whoever wins will get to be in charge of building the Cluster drill. Let the games begin!"

Steven then called out the first round. "Speed!"  
Pearl was lucky to have made her robot's feet into wheels during construction, as it was practically skating.  
The feet of Peridot's robot were just going crazy all over the ground, somehow allowing it to keep up with Pearl's.  
William's mech, on the other hand, was using its acceleration system to slowly surpass the other two. He cycled around a tree, followed by Pearl and Peridot crashing into it. They should pay attention to where they're going.  
William scored the point.

"Strength!"  
Peridot's robot crushed two rocks with its crab claws.  
Pearl ended up dropping a rock on herself.  
William's mech was punching through solid stone, reducing the rocks to rubble.  
A point for William, and a point for Peridot.

"Balance!"  
Peridot's robot was too heavy, so it fell down on itself.  
Pearl's bot, however, was lightweight, making balance easy.  
William's mech had a very sturdy gyroscopic balancing system, so balancing was a breeze.  
Pearl and William won that.

"Reaction time!"  
Steven used an old tennis ball machine for projectiles.  
Peridot's robot was using its arms to block each and every projectile.  
Pearl's bot seemingly danced its way out of the paths of the tennis balls.  
William's mech was dodging them all, covering a very impressive with each acceleration boost.  
Everyone got a point.

"Autonomous control!"  
The three Gems got out of their machines, standing back about two dozen feet away from the robots.  
"Peribot, come to me!" Peridot called. Her robot did nothing.  
"Pearlbot, to me please!" Pearl's bot was just as nonresponsive.  
"Mechanos, follow." William ordered. The mech made its way over to the Emerald.  
William scored the point.

Before the final round, they looked at the scoreboard.

| PERIDOT | PEARL | WILLIAM |  
| 000002 | 000002 | 000005 |

Pearl and Peridot were tied, but William was ahead by three points.

This was it. The final round.  
"Alright, guys, this is the final event! This one is worth three points! Pearl VS Peridot! William will be the final opponent!" Steven announced.

William stood by, ready for his battle.  
The fight between Pearl and Peridot was over in about a minute and a half, and Peridot was the victor. "That was fast. Time for my fight." He raised his arms, allowing the Mechanos to place him in the control interface console unit. The AI deactivated as his gemstone was connected to the Emerald control interface.  
William VS Peridot, the ultimate tiebreaker for this contest.

The Peribot appeared entirely undamaged, but the Pearlbot was trashed, and its right arm was ripped off.  
Peridot readied her Peribot for combat. Steven then announced the beginning of the battle. "Let the final fight commence!"  
Peridot went in to land the first move, but William's Mechanos was too fast. It grabbed both of the Peribot's arms, tore them off, punched into the exposed control center, threw Peridot out, and DESTROYED the Peribot in a matter of seconds.

After all the destruction had been settled, the Gems looked over the debris. Peridot then understood why Emeralds never had it in them to build war machines, or to believe in the concept of war.  
They were doing the rest of the universe an act of mercy.

* * *

Whoa...  
There's... There's nothing left of it...

See you next time.  
Oh dear lord...

Oh, and that green-skinned, six-eyed face at the beginning? Are any of you familiar with the Nightmare from Metroid Fusion or Metroid Other M?


	31. CH26

S2-26  
 **Too Far**

* * *

"Log date 7-1-1-2. It's the third rotation of the Earth since commencements of a 'collaborative' approach to stopping the Cluster." Steven had given Peridot a tape recorder due to her limb enhancers being stored on the Freedom Shield without the Homeworld Gem knowing.  
"Drill head blueprints are all drawn out. Peridot, could you come take a look at this please?" Pearl called into the barn.  
As Peridot came out, William joined in. "Why should I listen to you again? Oh, yeah." She then played back an earlier recording. "This one Pearl here has exhibited an aptitude for engineering that I begrudgingly respect, but that doesn't explain the spontaneous singing, crying, or singing while crying."

Pearl was annoyed as Amethyst laughed. "Why did you give her that?" Pearl wondered. "Well, we took all her stuff, so I thought it would make her feel better." Steven answered honestly.  
Peridot's tape recorder started fast-forwarding. "Clods! ~fast-forward~ Muddy clods! ~fast-forward~ -running out of ways to say 'clods'!"

Garnet arrived, with a piece of hay in her mouth. "Alright, cows are gone. Let's do this." "~clears throat~ Before we begin this project, would you mind unfusing? It's discomforting." Everyone went silent, and William could tell one of Garnet's three eyes were twitching beneath her shades.  
She tethered Peridot to a fence with a leash, then walked away, leaving Peridot to groan and grumble in irritation.

"Was that necessary?" Steven asked. "Peridot having free reign of the place was discomforting." "Garnet, let me take care of her." William offered. "Alright."  
"Peridot, you should really be mindful of what you say. You don't want me to put you with Jasper in the storms of Saturn, do you?" "N-NO! Wait. Jasper's where?" William was annoyed at Peridot changing the subject. "Do you WANT me to put my sword straight through your gemstone?!" "...no..." "Then I suggest you behave yourself." "Fine."

At that point, Peridot started working on a nearby microwave... or at least tried to. "I just need a leverage optimizer for this..." Just as she said that, Steven and Amethyst came over. "'Leverage optimizer'? What?" Amethyst repeated in confusion. "That's what I said." "Oh. You mean a screwdriver?" The purple gem laughed. "Do you have one or not?" Peridot was not amused.  
William understood the term, picked up a nearby screwdriver, and handed it to Peridot. "Thank you, William."

"Hey, Peridot. What do you call this?" Amethyst asked, pointing to her nose. "A scent sponge." "We call it a nose." William stated. Steven was confused at Peridot's name for it.  
"OK, what's this?" She held open one of her eyes. "Vision sphere." "Peridot, we call it an eye." The Emerald added.  
"Peridot, that's-" Steven started, only to be interrupted by Amethyst. "Wait, wait, Steven. Peridot, these?" She wiggled her fingers. "Touch stumps." "Fingers." William was starting to see a pattern.  
"This?" Amethyst's foot. "Gravity connectors." "Feet."  
Amethyst then pointed at her backside. "This?!" "THAT'S YOUR BUTT!" Steven and Amethyst burst into laughter while William stormed off, speaking in his original language. "⌰⟒⏁ ⋔⟒ k⋏⍜⍙ ⍙⊑⟒⋏ ⊬⍜⎍ ⍙⏃⋏⏁ ⏁⍜ ⏚⟒ ⋔⏃⏁⎍⍀⟒ ⏃⏚⍜⎍⏁ ⏁⊑⟟⌇!"

William was on his way back to the Warp Pad to return to Beach City when Garnet called for him. "William, I need you to go with Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot to get an injector drill head from the Kindergarten." "Fine." He sounded... less than pleased. Who could blame him?

After traveling to the Kindergarten and finding a broken injector that was somewhat 'manageable', the group went to try and take off the drill, head, except for Peridot, who was recording another log. "Log date 7-1-1-2. Steven, the Amethyst, and the Emerald named William have volunteered to help me dismantle this stylistically displeasing era-1 drill. I say 'stylishly displeasing' because the newer ones have a nicer finish." "You making more nerd notes?" Amethyst asked. "What is 'nerd'?" It was then that the Freedom Shield's AI spoke through the Scout Drone that accompanied them. " _Nerd: a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious._ " Peridot simply resumed her recording. "As you can see, this planet is ANNOYING and EVERYTHING is ANNOYING. Amongst its transgressions is the need for the Amethyst to ask permission from the perma-Fusion." "'Perma-Fusion'? Is that your name for Garnet?" Amethyst asked, holding in a laugh. "I could give her lots of names. I could call her two things! Two clods, walking around like she's one clod!" Peridot joked, making William slap his forehead and groan in annoyance.

"What's wrong with that?" Steven questioned. "She's not even fighting! She's- You know, she's just- y-you know like the..." She lightly pounded her fists together, not sure how exactly to describe Garnet. "You know!" Steven was left confused while Amethyst was bursting into laughter. "You're a real Gem, Peri." "Yes. I am... a Gem." "OK, what's weird about Steven?" Amethyst asked excitedly. "Where do I even begin?! He's some sort of hybrid abomination, and I don't understand how he functions! His organic half consumes so much energy that he has to constantly feed, and he spends so much time expelling, that he has a whole room dedicated to it!" "Uh- No! Can we talk about something else please!?" Steven was getting seriously embarrassed right now.

"The strangest thing is, Amethyst, you think you have to listen to them! YOU SHOULD BE IN CHARGE!" "Ha! That's your best joke yet." Amethyst laughed. "No, really. Pearl and Vilo are Pearls, Garnet is a Fusion, Blith is a Bismuth, Lazuli is a messenger, I don't even know what HE'S supposed to be!" Peridot gestured to Steven. "Hey!" "And William and Morlax are practically undefinable!" This prompted a response from the Emerald who was with them. "HEY!"  
"You're the only Crystal Gem that's actually a Gem!" Peridot stated. "Uh... ~nervous laughter~ Wha...?" "You outrank everyone on your team. They should be listening to you! You're a strong, singular, fully-functional soldier, despite being defective." At Peridot's words, the mood dropped. "Defective...?"  
"Well, yeah! You're small!" Peridot pointed out. "And?" "Well, you're not supposed to be! Hold on. Wait. Let me guess. There!" She ran over to the smallest hole in the wall, the same hole from which Amethyst emerged long ago. "This is the hole you came out of, isn't it? Hmm... Too small... Too low... The exit marks look 500 years newer than the others. This place must have been empty when you came out, right? No wonder you have no idea what you're supposed to look like!" At this, Steven and William remained silent.

"What was I supposed to look like?" "Well, you're a quartz. They're huge, loyal soldiers. You should be twice your size, broad shouldered, intimidating, but you spent too much time in the ground." Peridot pointed out. "Are you saying I'm wrong?!" "Gemetically speaking, yes. When you think about it, it's all so... ~snickers~ funny!" Peridot laughed, unaware that she hurt Amethyst's feelings.  
William slapped Peridot hard in the face... with a green gauntlet. "Do you have any idea what sort of emotional pain you're putting Amethyst through right now?" "'Emotional'?" Peridot wasn't familiar with that term?!  
She looked at William's green gemstone, seeing a red glow. He's pissed. "OK, OK, I'M SORRY!" The red glow faded away as William unmade his gauntlet. "Good. Now tell it to Amethyst." Peridot slowly walked over to Amethyst, worrying as if one wrong move may set off a ticking time bomb. "If I've damaged my standing with the best Gem here, then I've made a serious mistake. I'm still learning, and I hope you understand. I want to understand. Amethyst, I... I'm sorry." Peridot's apology put a smile on Amethyst's face. "Thanks."

"That's better. Now then, about the whole 'being defective' thing. I think it makes for an advantage. A smaller target is harder to hit, and decreased mass leads to increased mobility. Among all that, she can fit through smaller gaps with ease." William had a point. "Y'know, that actually makes sense. I'm faster, harder to hit, and more maneuverable."  
Amethyst summoned her whip, then sliced the drill head off the injector with it. "WHOA! If you can do everything a normal quartz can do, and with your size, you just might be superior! Let's head back, and shove this thing in Pearl's face!" Peridot said excitedly as William stored the drill head in his gemstone.

Later at the barn, the drill head was delivered. "To think we'd be using the same tech that started this disaster to fix it! Oh, irony at its finest!" Pearl was going a bit crazy. "To be more accurate, it's mostly carbonite." " _Peridot, she does not mean literally. Irony: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect._ " The Freedom Shield explained. "Oh. Nevermind then."

Peridot and William then started work on the drill head for repairs and eventual refitting.  
By mistake, Peridot made the drill activate. Before it could go out of control, William disconnected the onboard power supply, shutting the drill head back down. "I think we should let the Freedom Shield deal with this." "Why?" Peridot questioned. "Is the idea of an AI working on machinery not obvious enough for you?" "Oh, right, I get it now."  
By sundown, the drill head was complete and ready to be attached to the rest of the machine.

"Peridot, maybe I should educate you on the concept of emotions, and how your words can affect the emotional status of others... and yourself. Come with me." With that, William escorted Peridot back to Beach City, with the intent of teaching her a valuable lesson, and to make sure she never hurts Amethyst's or anyone's feelings again.

* * *

Well, thanks to William going with them to the Kindergarten, Peridot's standing with Amethyst was fixed early on, and there was no fiasco with the drill head.  
Keep everything in order.

Now then, I'll see you next time.


	32. CH27

S2-27  
 **Steven's Birthday**

* * *

"Are you guys sure it's okay to take a break from the drill?" Steven asked. "Peridot has volunteered to keep us on schedule." Pearl replied. Speaking of which...

"Yo, Peri! You sure you don't want to get in on this 'annual lifespan celebration'?" Amethyst called as Peridot came out of the barn, holding a few more materials. The purple gem blew up a triangular balloon with Peridot's face drawn on it, until it popped from the internal pressure. Unamused, Peridot flapped down a pair of welding goggles and continued to walk around back to the drill. "Knowing me, I'd go with Peridot on this one, but a day like this is a very special occasion." William stated, making star-shaped paper cutouts.

"We should celebrate our progress, and more importantly, we should celebrate YOUR progress. You've grown a lot this year." Garnet stated, patting Steven on the head. "He most certainly has." Pearl added happily. "I guess so. I'm glad you're all here too."  
"A birthday isn't something that can just be overlooked. It should be celebrated." Blith stated, working at an outdoor grill. No doubt she had been reading cook books, as she was grilling burgers. "Well, I just can't help but agree with you on that." Vilo added, using a little knife to carve a piece of a broken branch into a gift. "Are you making a wooden locket?" Steven saw what she was doing! "Well, according to Minecraft physics, wood is stronger than gold." Vilo had a point there, and Steven understood what she meant. A carved wooden heart locket with a solid coat of gold-colored spray paint was Vilo's gift.

"Hey, guys! There's-" Morlax was interrupted by a loud car horn. It was Greg's van!  
The passenger door opened, and Connie came out, wearing a different outfit. She then pulled out a suitcase. "Steven!" "Connie!" As the two children came to each other, Connie gave Steven a hug. "Happy birthday!" "Thanks. Welcome to the party!"  
William held out two glasses of chocolate milk to the kids. "Refreshments? Don't worry, Connie, it's TruMoo. It's made with real cocoa and no artificial flavors. Packed with protein, calcium, and vitamins. No GMO ingredients or high fructose corn syrup. Delicious and nutritious." "I never had TruMoo chocolate milk before! Thanks!" "Got more in stock, just in case you're still thirsty."

"So, I'm surprised your parents are letting you stay for the weekend." Steven stated, to which Connie giggled. "It wasn't easy. They'd only let me come after equipping me with every piece of safety gear on the planet." "What should I do with this defibrillator!?" WHAT THE?! "Let's just leave it in the car for now!" Connie called back to Greg, who was holding the defibrillator. "Well, I'm glad you could make it." "Me too."

Just then, Greg stepped in between them. "Alright, move it, Connie, I was his best friend first. Happy birthday! OK, shtoo-ball. Let me get a look at yah." "Greg, you're not his best friend, you're his father, and Connie, you're more like Steven's girlfriend." William pointed out. "Yeah, I guess you're ri- Wait... WHAT?! What do you mean she's his girlfriend?!" "...I said that out loud, didn't I?" Yes. Yes, you did.

A little later, William noticed that Steven wasn't in a particularly good mood, so he decided to ask about it. "Hey, Steven. Something wrong?" "No..." "I don't believe that for a second. Steven. Tell me." Knowing that there was no use in hiding something from an Emerald, Steven let it out. "I'm... worried I'm gonna stay a kid forever."  
At this, William closely examined Steven's facial region. "I don't know what you're going on about, Steven. You've got a bit of facial hair." "Wait. Really?!" "Yup. Bit of stubble on the chin. You're growing up." Steven knew that when William shares his observation, it's GOTTA be true.

The Emerald then went to spread the info with a certain two. "Greg, Connie, I've made an observation concerning Steven's growth. He actually IS growing, as I found a bit of facial hair growing from his chin." "Really?! Awesome!" Connie cheered. "I was actually starting to worry that he wasn't growing." "Steven felt the same way, Greg. He didn't think he was growing." William stated.

Later that day, the party was going on. Steven, Connie, Greg, William, Morlax, Vilo, Blith, and Amethyst were having a BLT, fries, and TruMoo chocolate milk.  
After presents were shared, they got some cake. Cookies and cream, a classical favorite.

Everyone was just talking now, and William had an idea on how to get a few things straightened out between a certain two. While Steven and Connie were talking at the barn entrance, one of the Freedom Shield's Scout Drones hung a plastic plant above their heads.

"Hey, you two!" Amethyst greeted before seeing the decoration. "Uh... Heh heh... Heads up?" Steven and Connie looked up, seeing a mistletoe. "What the... How long has THAT been up there?!" Connie exclaimed. "I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other for a while now. I thought I'd help keep it on course. I just needed some help getting that mistletoe up there without being noticed." William explained.

"W-well? S-should we...?" Before Steven could finish that sentence, Connie gave him a peck on the lips, causing them both to blush wildly. "Well, that's what I've been seeing in your future. I replicated Garnet's Future Vision, remember?"

* * *

And on that note, I'll put this chapter to a close and begin the next.

About Steven and Connie sharing a romantic moment at the end, even if it was a bit awkward, I actually decided to go along with the official status of their relationship, which states that they share a mutual crush with each other.

A defibrillator? Seriously?! Priyanka and Doug Maheswaran, you both know as well as I do that a defibrillator is exceedingly excessive for a birthday party!

I'll see you all next time, folks.


	33. CH28

S2-28  
 **Old data, new plans**

* * *

On a peaceful night, the Gems were taking a break from the drill, much to Peridot's displeasure.  
She confronted Steven, who was playing his ukulele. "Steven." "Hi." Steven greeted. "Why have we stopped working on the drill?! Why are the Gems just sitting there, observing nothing?!" "We all worked hard, and we deserve to take a break. I mean... just look at that view. It's beautiful." "If we don't get back to work, it's going to be blown to oblivion by the Cluster!"  
At this, William stepped in. "All work and no play makes-" "I know. I know. I remember the human expressions you educated me on. 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy', or in this case, makes Peridot a dull Gem." "Precisely. Anyway, the Gems may have stopped working on the drill, but the Freedom Shield's Maintenance Drones haven't. Take a look." Steven, William, and Peridot went around the barn to look at the drill, seeing a few Scout Drones and Maintenance Drones still at work constructing the drill.

Just then, the rest of the Gems joined in, looking at the drill as the airborne mechanical automatons completed its construction. " _Drill construction: complete. Initiating extensive analysis. Hull integrity: optimal. Internal cooling system: optimal. Circuitry stability: optimal. Onboard subterranean navigation system: optimal. Extensive analysis: concluded. System ready._ " "Nice job, everyone." William commended. "Oh wait! I need to check something!" Peridot then ran to the drill, examining the navigation system. "Co-ordinates! We still need the Cluster's exact co-ordinates in order to drill!"  
"There's a Diamond base that may hold that information, but getting there is going to be difficult." Pearl suggested. "How so?" Steven asked. " _Earlier planetary analysis has detected a structure on the surface of Earth's moon. Technological signatures were detected prior to the Earth corporation, NASA, deploying lunar exploration rovers and manned expeditions, including the launch of the Apollo 11._ " The Freedom Shield stated through one of the Scout Drones.

"Lion, can you make us a special super warp to the moon?" Steven asked his pet. The lion stretched, then went back to sleep.  
William stepped up. "Lion, if you don't take us to the Diamond base on Earth's moon, you won't be able to nap anymore." The pink lion got up and roared, eyes glowing white.  
Everyone got on the lion's back, but Steven and Peridot were sticking out of its mane. A single Scout Drone had grabbed onto William for leverage.  
With a loud roar, a portal was opened, and the lion jumped through, taking everyone with it.

Eventually, the series of portals within portals ended, and everyone fell out, landing on a cold floor. "OK, that wasn't exactly pleasant, but we're here." William said, popping a few points in his internal artificial bone structure back into place. He had a particularly rough landing.  
Everyone was now on foot, and the pink lion was resting against a wall. "We made it." Pearl announced, projecting a beam of light from her gemstone. " _Initiating hieroglyphic analysis._ " The Freedom Shield, having restored its connection with the Scout Drone, scanned the walls.

"It doesn't look like the moon." Steven said, looking around. Amethyst ran over to a formation on one wall and put her hand on it, causing a large door to open, sucking some oxygen into the vacuum of space. Amethyst took her hand off the wall, making the door close with an instant airtight seal. "Uhhh... Yup! It's the moon!" "Amethyst, don't blow us into space!" Pearl scolded the reckless Gem.

Everyone heard Steven chuckling. They looked over to see the boy floating around, obviously a result of the lower gravity. "Whoa! Look at me! I'm a moon boy!"  
"Alright! Here I come, moon boy!" Amethyst tried to join Steven in the fun, only to slam back on the ground as if under normal gravity. Under the effects of the moon's gravity, Steven somersaulted backwards four times in a row in a single leap. "Moon boy quadruple back flip!"  
"Hey! Why can't I be a moon boy?" Amethyst groaned. "We're Gems, a space-faring race designed to conquer other worlds, so our physical forms adjust automatically to the gravity of any planetoid." Peridot stated, to which William added. "Plus, for you to be a 'moon boy', you would need to be the opposite gender, as you would currently qualify as a 'moon girl'." "Lame."

Steven then crashed against a wall, landing on the floor nearby. "Huh? Hey, Peridot! Check this out!" Peridot ran over, illuminating the wall. "Blue Diamond! Wait... Are they all here? Ah! There she is!"  
Deciding to see what the commotion was about, William and Morlax joined in, looking at a second mural. "Behold! Yellow Diamond! Isn't she magnificent?!" "Who are the Diamonds anyway? They seem like a big deal." Steven was clueless. "Seriously?! The Diamonds are the Gem matriarchs! Together, they make up the Great Diamond Authority that governs Homeworld and all the outlying colonies! We were all made to serve them, even though some of us don't anymore."

Just then, a strange sound was heard.  
Steven, Peridot, and Morlax looked at William, seeing that his gemstone was glowing red, his physical form was undergoing aggressive fluctuations, and his face sported the absolute mother of all scowls.  
"⍜⊑⊑ ⌇⊑⟟⏁... We might want to get out of here before his anger vents." Morlax recommended.  
"Over there! I think that's a control service!" Peridot ran to one wall of the chamber, and the sound was growing in intensity. "I think this is right. The material is different from the surrounding stone. Now, if I just..." She moved her hands across and against the panel, causing it to light up. It rose from the ground, followed by the rest of the panels outlining the room, creating a set of stairs, and knocking the lion over at the same time. Everyone hurried up to the next floor before Peridot sealed the room.

Almost immediately after, the moon base shook with the force of a REALLY bad earthquake, and the sounds of an intense warzone were heard, but only for a few brief moments.  
Morlax placed a hand on the ground as an Echo-pulse rippled from the gemstone on his shoulder. The pulse returned to him in a matter of seconds. "He... He blasted a hole straight through the wall...! Steven, make a bubble around you and your lion. Peridot, open the stairs."

Steven formed his sphere as Peridot unsealed the room, and air was blasting out of the upper room. Once the Gems returned to the first floor, Peridot closed the upper chambers back up. There was a gaping hole in the wall where Yellow Diamond's mural once resided, exposing the base's interior to the vacuum of space.

William, having vented his rage... for the time being, used Nano-construction to seal the breach he created, patching the hole up... with the material of the old Communication Hub that was once on Earth. With the breach sealed, artificial oxygen was pumped into the chamber.  
"Oh... my... stars..." Peridot was horrified that, in his rage, William had destroyed, decimated, exterminated the image of Yellow Diamond.

"William, why don't we focus on why we're here?" Pearl suggested nervously.  
Without a word, William walked up the stairs as Peridot reopened them.

The group reached the top floor, finding themselves in a room with a transparent dome roof. Peridot went over to a seemingly buttonless console, and she was strangely gushing over it. "Oh my goodness! This looks like it could be brand new! Well, it's a relic by today's standards, but it's so elegant, so simple, so perfect!" "So how do you turn it on?" Amethyst questioned. "I have no idea."

Suddenly, the console lit up, surprising everyone. "Hey, it's got one of those glowing hand pads." They turned to see Steven sitting in a nearby chair, pressing his hand against a hand-shaped scanner pad. "Steven, that's a hand scanner." William pointed out.  
"YOU CAN'T SIT THERE!" Peridot was freaking out. "Why not?" "That chair is only for the most elite Gems! You can't go around sitting where an elite would sit!" "Well, they aren't here now, are they?" Steven scooted over to one side of the chair, making room. William stepped in. "Your argument... is logical. They are not here. They have not been here for centuries. There is an exceptionally high probability that they will not return. There is no risk."

Reluctantly, Peridot sat down next to Steven, giggling to herself. "Hey, what's this for?" Steven asked, pulling a white octahedral crystal out of the side of the chair. "Put that back!" Steven quickly put the crystal back where he got it, not wanting to make Peridot go hysterical... again. "OK, let's have a look..." After using the control pad on the other side of the chair, Peridot made it slide closer to the main control console. "There we go. This is a really old system... It's a wonder it still works." The top surface of the console became a touch screen, and a holographic display was being projected above it. "Gotta find the right file... Aha! Let's see... Where are you, Cluster? There! That's the insertion point, the Beta Kindergarten in Facet 9. It's the smaller of the two, not nearly as impressive as yours, Amethyst." "Uhh... Thanks?"  
"Where's the Cluster now?" Pearl questioned. "Hold on... It's embedded deep in the mantle. Relative to the barn, its about 2,500 units down. Now, we just need to feed this data to the drill, then we should be all set." "Thank heavens! Mission accomplished!" Pearl cheered.

"Freedom Shield, initiate data download." William ordered.  
The Scout Drone then connected to the console, pulling out every bit of data stored on its drives, then securely transmitting it back to the Freedom Shield.  
With all the data gone, the terminal permanently shut down. " _Data download complete._ "  
As the Gems went to leave, the Freedom Shield had something to report. " _The downloaded data appears to hold information on the original colonization project for Earth._ " A hologram of Earth was displayed from the Scout Drone, with a few red dots sparsely spread around it. " _All Homeworld structures currently built accounted for approximately 5% of the original plan._ " The hologram of Earth then began to rapidly develop holes in its surface, and the planet itself was left hollow, with only the crust and inner core remaining. " _Downloaded data appears to list 89 Kindergartens, 67 spires, and a Galaxy Warp in each facet. While this is pre-calculated as efficient use of local materials, this will render all organic life on the planet extinct. The prevention of this was a wise decision. However, the Cluster is now our main concern. Emerald William, I recommend using your gemstone pocket dimension for removal of the Cluster upon arrival._ " "You got it."

* * *

William kinda went a bit mad here.  
Now he scares me.

See you next time, boys and girls.


	34. CH29

S2-29  
 **Message Received**

* * *

"How long until we can use the drill?" Amethyst wondered. "Well, with the new co-ordinates we got from the moon base, it should be ready to go, but the Freedom Shield is still running diagnostic checks and performance simulations. Once that's done, the drill will be cleared for usage." Pearl stated.

William was there too, keeping an eye on Peridot, and he spotted something in her possession, as did Steven. "Peridot, what's that you've got there?" The Emerald questioned. "What? Oh, this? It's nothing special." Steven took advantage of the distraction, taking the device from behind Peridot's back, then tossing it to William. "HEY!"  
"Hmm... Freedom Shield, got any ideas?" " _My scans indicate it is a communication device._ " The other Gems overheard this and came over.  
"She took a direct line to the Diamonds, from the moon base?! What was she thinking?!" Pearl exclaimed. "After everything we've gone through, she's still out to get us!" Amethyst angrily added.

It wasn't long before everyone noticed William's silence. "William? Are you... OK?" Vilo wondered. "Peridot, is this really a direct communication line to the Diamonds, like Pearl said?" "Y-yes?" "Good. I'll take it from here." William activated the communicator!  
The device unfolded and transformed into a floating screen, projecting another Gem. "This is the Yellow Diamond control room. Who authorized you to make this call?" It was a Pearl. "I have a message for Yellow Diamond."

Just then, another voice was heard. "Pearl." "Yes, my Diamond?" "Why is there someone on the Diamond line?" "I don't know. I was just about to tell them that-" "I'll take it from here." A large yellow hand was seen on the screen, bringing the view to a higher elevation. Yellow Diamond.

Peridot spoke out. "Yellow Diamond. Peridot, reporting in." "Which Peridot?" "Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG. I'm sorry to contact you this way, but all other forms of communication have been destroyed and-" "This says you're behind schedule on your mission to... How is the Earth?" Yellow Diamond asked. "Full of life, which is on its way to more reliable space travel." "Organic life... spreading across the stars... Where is the Jasper I assigned you? Why aren't you calling from the ship?" "The ship was destroyed." "By whom?" "It was destroyed by unknown planetary defenses." "Hmm... Fascinating. What is the status of The Cluster?" "The Cluster... will emerge shortly." "Good. We'll finally get some use out of that miserable planet... If the humans are fast enough in their advancements, they might just survive. Thank you for your report, Peridot. There'll be a ship heading to your location to take you to your next assignment... if it survives the planetary defenses you mentioned." "Hang on! I wouldn't have called to waste your time with a report." "You already have." "No, I mean... the reason I called, the REAL reason, is that I believe we should terminate the Cluster." Yellow Diamond's gaze finally fell upon the screen. "Why?" "The organic ecosystem creates resources unique to this world! We can't sacrifice all that potential just for one geo-weapon! I came up with a multitude of plans to utilize the planet without disrupting the local-" "I've heard enough! I don't care about potential and resources. I want my Cluster, and I want that planet to die. Just make that happen."  
Processing Yellow Diamond's newest order, Peridot refused. "No." "Are you questioning my authority?!" "I'm questioning your objectivity." "You are out of line." "Well, I think-" "I'm not interested in the puny thoughts of a Peridot." "Just-" "You have disrespected this channel and my time with your presence and you would do well to-" "I-" "Shut your mouth! You have failed at every stage of this mission. Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order. You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps. Is that clear?!" "NO! I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!" Peridot was sticking out for the Earth and its inhabitants!  
"What do you know about the Earth?!" "Apparently more than YOU, you... CLOD!" Peridot had insulted Yellow Diamond, causing the latter to glare at her angrily.  
Just then, William spoke up. "Peridot, I'll take it from here."

"Who are you?!" Yellow Diamond demanded. "Don't you remember me? Don't you remember what you did... to my kind?" He revealed his gemstone. "No... No, that's... that's impossible...!" The expression of anger on Yellow Diamond's face was quickly replaced with a look of fear. "That's right. The Emeralds still live. I think it's about time we started believing in the concept of war." Yellow Diamond took a step back, understanding what William meant. "Yellow Diamond, your days are numbered. Write your will, because next we meet, you will pay... with your life. Oh, and I exiled Jasper to the storms of Saturn! She's lucky I didn't crush her gemstone or throw it into the sun. You, however, won't be so lucky."  
The communicator deactivated and folded back up, falling in William's hand. It began glowing red, only for the Emerald to absorb the energy building up within it, causing the communicator to go from red to white then a burned out black. Without hesitation, he crushed it.  
"Did I just... I... I can't believe I just did that... I thought I could reason with her..." Peridot groaned, realizing what she just did. "Got any idea what that means?" Blith asked the sulking green gem. "That I'm a traitor to my home world?" "You're a Crystal Gem, whether you like it or not." Morlax stated.

"Peridot, you mentioned planetary defenses?" William asked. "Yes..." "Freedom Shield, ready the Construction Drones. Time to make those defenses." " _Copy._ "

* * *

And done.

Peridot, welcome aboard.

Yellow Diamond, **you've made one Emerald VERY mad**.

See you next time, everyone.


	35. CH30

S2-30  
 **Justice Emerald**

* * *

Following her betrayal of the Diamonds, Peridot was recording another log. "Log date 7-1-5-2. I have disobeyed my orders and went against Yellow Diamond's wishes, and I called her a clod... to her face! MAN that felt good!"  
"Peridot? You OK?" Steven wondered. "Better than OK! I feel... free." "That's great!" "I'm protecting a planet I was once trying to destroy! I once followed every order, every rule, and now I'm a traitor, a rebel, a Crystal Gem! I feel... I feel like a new Gem!"

With that, William exited the barn, watching as a few of the Freedom Shield's Construction Drones attached the drill head to Peridot's old escape pod.  
After relaxing for a bit, William got some company. "William...?" "Yes, Peridot?" "I... I don't know what I'm going to do anymore..." Seeing an opportunity to teach Peridot a new path, William put together an offer. "How about you come back to the Freedom Shield with me and I'll help set you on your new life?" "OK. Thank you."

Arriving at the Freedom Shield, William began his teaching.  
"Peridot, as a Crystal Gem, it is your duty to uphold the protection of this planet and its natural inhabitants. Humankind was born on Earth, it is their home. Emerald protocol is to NEVER colonize a planet that is already inhabited, and it is also by that same protocol that pre-inhabited planets are marked for protection. Normally, one Emerald is assigned to watch over a planet every couple years, but with Epsilon 7-B eradicated off the face of the universe, and nearly all Emeralds with it, only me, Morlax, and Thavix remaining, the rotations are... gone. Thavix betrayed her own kind, aligning herself with the Diamonds, so it stands to reason she told them where our home planet was. It makes sense that Morlax was found in the Kindergarten, since he was the last Emerald assigned to watch over the Earth, and the Emerald artist Cade was up next. With Epsilon 7-B destroyed, we need a new home." William explained. "That explains why the Path-forger was on Mars's smaller moon of Deimos, gathering atmospheric readings and calculating effective terraforming procedures to make it safely habitable for organic life." "Precisely."

" _Emerald William, I have completed my analysis of the recovered limb augments._ " Peridot immediately figured out what the Freedom Shield was talking about. "MY LIMB ENHANCERS! YOU HAVE MY LIMB ENHANCERS?!" "PERIDOT!" William raised his voice, silencing Peridot. "Yes, we have your limb enhancers, but until we can be sure of your alignment to our cause, they will remain beyond your reach. Are we clear?" "Yeah... We're clear..." "You'll know you can regain them when you gain my trust, and my trust is not so easily earned."

Later at the barn, Peridot was still with Garnet, stargazing. "You can see Homeworld's galaxy from here." "You're right." "We're very different. I appreciate that." "We're all special in our own way." "If you really want to understand Fusion, I can help you." "What do you mean?" "Let's fuse." "OH MY STARS!" Peridot then fell off the hay bale. "Heh. I get it. You're not ready. That's fair. Another time then." "No! No no no! Just-"  
William joined in. "What's going on over here?" "I asked Peridot to fuse with me." "What...?"  
"I wish to make an effort to understand Fusion, and to understand why Garnet remains fused all the time." "You've been watching that show, right?" William asked. "Camp Pining Hearts? Yes." "Garnet is basically Percy and Pierre." "Ohh!" "I guess you understand Garnet now. So, now for you to understand Fusion. Allow me to help you with that." William's physical form dispersed, the synthetic particles being absorbed back into his gemstone. The green crystal then merged itself with Peridot's form, embedding itself in the back of her right hand, causing her form to ripple like water.

"What... What just happened?" Peridot wondered, looking at the gemstone in her hand. "This is a special type of Fusion only possible if at least one member of the Fusion is an Emerald."  
From William's gemstone, Peridot started receiving a complex understanding of Garnet's Fusion, an understanding that could not be shared vocally. "I... I understand now." "Good." "And I wish to experience it for myself." "Uh..." William ejected himself from the power meld, somersaulting in the air before landing next to Garnet, his human form reconstituted. "Maybe later. There's still a few things we have to take care of."

Later that night, William was running manual diagnostics on the drill, and Vilo was taking Peridot's limb enhancers for a spin, while showing off that she was a fast learner. " _Drill diagnostic: complete. Functionality is at optimal levels. The drill is ready._ " The Freedom Shield reported.  
With that job done, William went over to Peridot. "I think we'll try it now. Fusion?" Peridot got up on her feet, nervous about what'll happen next. "Fusion with an Emerald does not require dancing, only true trust." "But you said I don't have your trust!" "I'll... I'll have to make an exception."  
As William was surrounded in a large bubble, his physical form became holographic, and his gemstone detached from the back of his hand, floating between all ten of his digits. It was a higher form of Emerald meditation. This continued on for several minutes before William resumed his physicality. "I'm ready if you are." William and Peridot made their gemstones glow, causing Fusion energy to surround them.

Suddenly, a power surge fluctuated around them. This was an Emerald Link Fusion! Peridot's limb enhancers were mysteriously pulled off of Vilo, being sucked into the energy vortex.  
When the glow died down, a new cybernetic Fusion stood in the place of William and Peridot, with the latter's augments integrated perfectly into its form. The Fusion's hands protruded from the arm enhancements like coming out of a sleeve, with the floating fingers orbiting the rims of the devices like a slowly spinning rotary cannon. The boots covered the lower legs, but where the kneepads normally ended were flawlessly integrated into the bottom of the Fusion's own knees. The Fusion had William's head, but with Peridot's gemstone and visor, the latter of which appeared to be functioning as a sort of HUD. The rest of the Fusion's form appeared armored, yet remained entirely unhindered from any form of previously available movement. The Fusion itself appeared to retain the Emerald's gender.  
"William? Peridot?" Morlax was concerned.

The Fusion opened his eyes, then discovered himself.  
"What just... What happened?! I... A Link Fusion...?! I've only heard the rumors... I didn't think it was real...! William, what is this?! I demand to... Wait... I... I understand now... I understand everything. I understand your pain now... I... I'm sorry... It's OK, Peridot. It's OK... No. No, it's not... You have every right to be angry at the Diamonds. Calling her a clod wasn't enough. She deserves worse! She deserves the judgment you will bring upon her! William, thank you for giving me a chance. You shouldn't be thanking me, Peridot. Steven deserves that praise." In the corner of the visor was an indication of who was talking at the moment, as it was switching between an upside-down triangle for Peridot and an emerald-shaped hexagon for William.

"What should we call this new Fusion, you two?" Garnet asked. The corner of the Fusion's visor was flickering between William and Peridot at an extremely fast rate as the Fusion itself seemed to be in thought. He looked to the green gemstone on the back of his right hand, then at Homeworld's galaxy with a scowl on his face.  
The two Gems reached a conclusion, and it appeared on the visor, with the corner of the HUD now showing both William AND Peridot. "Justice Emerald."

That morning, William and Peridot had warped to a desert, which was the perfect place to test their Fusion's capabilities. They fused, bringing out Justice Emerald.  
Eight of the floating digits converged together, creating a screen that displayed every single weapon William had replicated so far, with the other two stacking together to make a sort of pen.  
"Which do you think we should try first, William?" Peridot asked within the Fusion. "I don't know... I'll let you make the first choice. Hmm... Steven's shield? Alright." The floating finger sticks returned to Justice Emerald's arms.  
The Fusion extended his right arm, causing the orbiting fingers to rearrange themselves into a star-shaped orientation just beyond his hand. Justice Emerald made a circular motion, making the rods outline Steven's shield.  
With a pulse of Emerald energy, the shield was formed, with the finger rods integrated perfectly. Instead of pink with a rose thorn spiral pattern like Steven's shield, this one was jade green with an emerald green pentagon connecting the digits.

"Incredible...! What's next, William? Let's try Pearl's spear."  
The shield vanished, followed by the rods returning to that star orientation.  
Justice Emerald waved his hand through the air in a straight line, causing the finger sticks to create a green spear.

"Garnet's gauntlets?"  
With all ten rods ready, Justice Emerald lined them up with his own fingers, the digits lightly pressing against his graspers before green gauntlets appeared around his arms.

"Amethyst's whip!"  
Three digits aligned themselves in a wavy fashion while the other two stuck side-by-side together, becoming the handle of the weapon.

"How about Fusion weapons? Peridot, which should we do first? Opal's bow!"  
The ten rods aligned themselves to form the main part of the bow, lacking the string, which was created nonetheless.

"Sugilite's wrecking ball!"  
Five of the digits created a fist while the other five oriented into Amethyst's whip, connecting to the base of the fist. A green wrecking ball with what looked like a fist on the end of the chain was formed.

"Last, but not least, Sardonyx's war hammer!"  
Two fists, each comprise of only four of the digits, including the thumb, were made, along with the other two rods spaced out along where the handle would be. A green war hammer was created.

Before the two could unfuse, William had an idea. "Wait... Will this work with the Plasma Buster? Only one way to find out."  
Two of the rods went to both sides of his right elbow, each spinning in a blurred circle, while the other three started spinning in a circle around Justice Emerald's right hand.  
In a flash of energy, the Plasma Buster was formed.

"This is... This is incredible...!" Peridot was in amazement. "Together, we are Justice Emerald."  
On their way back to the Warp Pad, William felt something. "Hey, Peridot? Yeah? What is it you're feeling toward Amethyst? Wait... WHAT?!"

* * *

This is a Fusion I have had in my mind since before I even made my account, and now I've integrated him into the story.

Justice Emerald's armor holds a very strong resemblance to Tony Stark's MK 41 armor, but in the place of the 'exposed internal components' is more armor that only looks like it.

See you next time, guys.


	36. E-D: 5

Emerald documentary  
Part 5: Fusion

* * *

Emeralds have a unique variation of fusing with other Gems, which is said to be the most powerful type of Fusion, capable of easily surpassing the power of even the Diamonds themselves.

When fusing, an Emerald can choose to either merge their gemstone with the physical form of their Fusion partner, allowing the other Gem to use the Emerald's abilities and enhancements, or create a powerful Fusion Gem, with powers that remain unknown, even to this day.

Each Emerald has a small specific fusion reaction to a certain kind of Gem. These reactions give an unimaginable boost in skills, abilities, everything. These are referred to as Link Fusions.

The destiny of an Emerald is influenced by the Gem type which gives them this Ultima-Boost.  
For example: Thavix gains her boost from fusing with a Diamond, so she has demonstrated that she can give Yellow Diamond the power to easily destroy anything and everything in her path, causing her to have second thoughts on Fusion.

Fusing with an Emerald creates raw power with a massive vortex of energy surrounding the Fusion, which is actually releasing the cyclone of Emerald energy.

* * *

I think that finishes the documentary on the Emeralds.  
I know it's short, but what else is there? That's everything.

See you next time.


	37. CH31

S2-31  
 **Gem Drill**

* * *

This was it.  
Cracks began forming along the Earth's crust, followed by tremors rocking the planet's surface.  
"Ready for action, Peridot?" William asked. "All systems go! Steven, c'mon!" "Hang on, Peridot. The drill can only hold two passengers." "Yeah! Steven and Justice Emerald!" "If we fuse, we'll occupy less space. Good thinking!"  
Fusion energy surrounded William and Peridot, and once the glow died down, Justice Emerald stood in their place, containing and absorbing the Link Fusion energy surge with ease. "Steven, in the drill pod, quick!" Justice Emerald hopped into the pod, with Steven sitting on his lap as the drill engaged, burrowing into the Earth.

The Freedom Shield could be heard from the pod's onboard communication relay. " _I estimate that you will reach the Cluster in two hours._ " "I wish I'd brought some tunes..." Steven sighed.  
The Freedom Shield then began playing some pretty suspenseful music over the speakers. "Oh. Thanks."

After quite some time, Steven broke the quietness. "Kinda freaky down here, isn't it" Justice Emerald looked at the boy, the triangle for Peridot showing on the corner of his visor. "It's dark and cramped. I can't stretch out." They felt a brief and sudden tremor.

"How did you think we were gonna get everyone in here?" Steven asked. The triangle for Peridot remained on the corner of Justice Emerald's visor. "Not sure. They'd... shrink or something. We didn't sufficient time to plan that out." The triangle then shifted to a hexagon. "Here's the plan: We have a drill, so we drill to the Cluster, I store it in my gemstone pocket dimension, and bring it bubbled up to Deimos, where the Path-forger's Construction Drones are in the process of building a massive facility. We'll try and find a way to dismantle the Cluster there. Heads up! We're entering the asthenosphere now!"  
All around them was molten rock. "Whoa! Lava!" "Lava comes out of volcanos. Before that, it's known as magma. This is super-heated peridotite, the same material of any Peridot gemstone." "Peridot was made on Homeworld, right?" Steven asked. The triangle was back on the visor. "Yes." "What was it like?" The hexagon returned, but it didn't replace the triangle. "In one moment, you don't exist. The next, you just come into being. Peridot doesn't have memories of it, just feelings. She knows she can never go back to Homeworld, but it's hard for her not to have some feelings for where she came from."  
Justice Emerald looked down at Steven, the hexagon in his visor gone. "It's fine. I have something different now." "What is it?" Steven wondered. "A human concept the Emeralds adapted into their lifestyle a VERY long time ago: Family."

Just then, a banging was heard on the outside of the drill pod, followed by a red hand pushing against the glass. "Gem mutants! A few prototypes must've been buried with the Cluster. Freedom Shield, take control of the onboard auto-defense turret and disable the mutants!" " _Solid copy._ "  
Thankfully, a few Scout Drones were flying in after the drill, capturing any neutralized shard Fusion for containment.

Justice Emerald spoke again, his visor now projecting only a triangle. "These early experiments only consisted of two or three shards. The Cluster will be a billion times bigger. It's an artificial Fusion capable of destroying worlds, starting with the Earth."  
Suddenly, the drill hit harder stone. "We're hitting some denser rock! This is it!" A massive pocket was breached, and the Cluster was within it. "Cluster sighted and reached."

The Cluster was suddenly surrounded in a sort of white mist, which appeared to be loosely taking the form of ghostly hands. "It's taking form!" William exclaimed within the Fusion. "Hold up... It's... struggling to take its form. We might still have a chance! Let's get this done."  
The drill detached from the tunnel it made in the Earth, landing its three tripod legs on the surface of the Cluster. "OK. Time to map this thing so I can store it."  
The pod opened up, allowing Justice Emerald to hop out, with Steven following behind him.

"Wait a minute... I've got an idea! Maybe we can convince the collective consciousness within the Cluster not to form!" Justice Emerald then unfused, with William assuming a meditative position, followed by Peridot and Steven. Collecting their psychological links, William allowed the trio to interface with the Cluster itself.

They appeared to be floating in a sort of void, populated only by what appeared to be gem shards, with collective voices mumbling to no one. "Must... Have to... Want to... Need to... Have to... Want to... Need to... Want to..." "You all want to form, don't you?" William asked the fragmented minds within the Cluster. "FORM! Need form!" "Taking on a heavily mutated and unstable form is not the answer to this!" William stated. The voices within the Cluster stopped.

"OK. New plan. How about we make an outer casing for you that'll keep you stable? If we do that, you can find any pieces of yourselves that are merged into your current material form and remerge the fragments of your minds, filling in the rest from your memories. Does that sound good to everyone?" William offered.  
All the voices within the Cluster whispered to each other before giving the exact same answer in unison. "Yes!" "The transition might be disorienting, but I'm gonna have to put all of you into my gemstone pocket dimension in order to remove you from the Earth so we can both save the planet, thus saving its inhabitants, and make that outer casing."

"You all remember how to bubble other Gems, don't you?" Steven asked. In response, bubbles began forming around each shard. "Yes. Yes, they do." Peridot stated with a grin.  
"If it helps, try and imagine this place into... a human space station! Just being stuck in this void within your own mind will make you all go insane!"

With that, the trio was pulled back out of the Cluster's mindscape.  
Bubbles were forming within the Cluster, melding together to make larger spheres until William made that last move, surrounding the entire Cluster in a green bubble, then making it vanish entirely as the group returned to the drill.

Eventually, then made it back out, with the drill having crawled its way up the rest of the Crystal Gems were there to congratulate them. "You all look happy. Did you destroy the Cluster?" Pearl asked. "No, we talked to it." Steven answered. "You... TALKED to the Cluster?" Lapis exclaimed. "Within its own mindscape? Yes." William added. "William has assembled an unorthodox yet safely efficient plan to save the Earth from destruction AND allow the Cluster to live. The Cluster is currently contained within his gemstone pocket dimension. All we need to do now is create the proposed outer shell that will house the Cluster itself... until we can find a way to safely dismantle the Cluster, allowing William to reassemble the individual Gems. Not only is it contained within a pocket dimension, but it is also being held inside a rather large bubble." Peridot explained. "How on Earth did you bubble that whole thing?!" Blith demanded. "We had a little help from the Cluster itself." Steven concluded.

* * *

The music track the Freedom Shield played is viewable at this YouTube IP. **[** /watch?v=xzyrBnRa8sY **]**

* * *

Well, the Cluster won't be within the Earth anymore, so that's a plus.

For the time being, William is gonna turn the Cluster... into a sentient satellite! That's... not something you see every day.

See you next time, everyone.


	38. CH32

S2-32  
 **Check on the team**

* * *

About a week after William turned the Cluster into a sentient satellite, while also somehow establishing a technological communication link with the minds within, the Crystal Gems decided to take a break for the time being.

William decided to see how everyone was doing, and Lapis was up first on his list.  
When he entered the wooden habitat, William saw Lapis and Morlax. "If you want, I could stay here and keep you company. You don't have to be alone." "That's very thoughtful of you, Morlax. Thank you. You CAN stay if you want." "I just feel like I'd be... a nuisance." "How would YOU of all Gems be a nuisance?" Lapis asked. "I just don't want to get in your way." "Well, I think you'd be fun to have around. I've been bored out of my mind in here. I could leave at any time, but I don't know where else to go." "Well, my starship has been my shelter ever since I was... reassembled, so I don't exactly know where else I could be either." William decided not to interrupt, so he stayed quiet while the two kept talking. "Morlax, your starship hasn't been here in two weeks. Where have you been staying since then?" Lapis worried. "Well, I guess I've been taking up residence in that old barn. Then again, with Peridot having moved in over there, I headed out, not wanting to annoy her." "Morlax, you would NOT annoy her, and you don't annoy me. If you want to stay with me, you can. It's your choice. I'm OK either way." "From what I've heard, solitude isn't good for your mental health. If you'll benefit from me moving in, then I will. You don't have to be alone, Lapis. Remember that. We all care about you." "Thank you."

With the conversation seemingly ended, William decided that Morlax and Lapis were perfectly fine, so he headed off to the Crystal Temple.  
Upon opening the door, William spotted Steven and Connie in the kitchen area, looking in the fridge. "Howdy, kids. Hungry?" The two closed the fridge and sat at the table, leaving William to give them each a menu he made.  
"I'm thinking about getting the Cheesy BLT. What do you think, Connie?" "I'll have the Classis Club." The two had placed their orders. "OK. Cheesy BLT for Steven, and Classic Club for Connie."  
In a matter of minutes, two sandwiches were served, then promptly consumed. "That was delicious!" Steven exclaimed. "Mmm. That... was... GOOD!" "Glad you both approve. Now, I'll be off."

William had arrived at the barn, seeing Amethyst and Peridot playing around, with the latter's limb enhancers left sitting next to the barn. Those two were OK, so William decided to check on Blith in Beach City.

Arriving at the blacksmith stand, William spotted Blith conversing with a local police chief.  
"What seems to be the problem here, officer?" The Emerald asked. "Well, I remembered seeing something from this show I watched as a kid that might help, so I thought Blith here could help out." "Yeah. Making a pair of target-seeking handcuffs is actually something I've never heard of, and this show 'Hero Factory' actually touches up on that concept. They can be applied manually, or throw 'em and they will automatically seek out their target." "Police cuffs that you can throw into the air and they apply themselves to any criminal's wrists." William thought this over for a bit before coming to a conclusion. "I think the Freedom Shield can help with the technical work. Blith here can help with the outer casing and lightweight design."

After departing, William sent one of the Freedom Shield's Scout Drones to Blith's forge, then went on his way to the Lighthouse above the Temple, seeing Vilo and Pearl playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe, with Garnet overseeing the game. William took a closer look, seeing the current round.

O O _  
X _ O  
X X _

"Who's turn is it?" William asked. "Vilo's turn." Garnet stated. Another X was placed on the board, and William's sister had won. "Round 1 goes to Vilo."

With that, William headed off, arriving at the Freedom Shield to communicate with the newly aligned collective of gem minds that now orbited the solar system. "Cluster mindscape, this is Emerald William. Do you read me? How copy, over?" A long silence was all that could be heard... until a voice came through. "Solid copy. Emerald William, this is Nephrite-CM1. We read you loud and clear. You taking us out of the Earth and turning us into a sentient satellite was the most unpredictable thing you could've done. However, since we're still contained in that bubble, we're being kept in a perfectly stable state. I assume the Freedom Shield's Scout Drones are searching the Earth for more shards for eventual restoration?" "That's right, and it's surprising to hear just one voice instead of a whole plethora of them. I assume your collective mental realm has been reshaped?" "Into a space station, just like you suggested. Everyone's pulling themselves together in here." "That's always good. Once the Freedom Shield manages to figure out a fix to this mess, we'll bring you over to Deimos, Mars's smaller moon. From there, the Cluster will be precisely dismantled, and all matching shards gathered." "Glad to hear it, William. Can't wait to get out of here... not that I don't exactly enjoy it in here. Being stuck in a place where reality is actually shaped by your very thoughts is... interesting." "That's the mindscape for you. Ping the Freedom Shield should any problems arise. Over and out."

Once the channel was closed, the Freedom Shield spoke up. " _Emerald William, the planetary defenses you requested are online and operational. Emerald and human signatures have been registered and verified. My scans show that the Path-forger is now returning from Deimos. On a side note: long-range atmospheric scans indicate that Deimos is now hospitable._ " "Chalk up another one for Emerald engineering." " _That will result in a recorded total of 12,746,739,856,827,165,874,583,274,587 successes for Emerald engineering._ "

* * *

OH DEAR LORD! THAT IS A LOT!

Well, with that chapter done, I'll see you next ti- _**01010101 01001110 01010010 01000101 01000111 01001001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01010010 01000101 01000100 00100000 01010011 01010000 01000001 01000011 01000101 01000011 01010010 01000001 01000110 01010100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100 00100000 01000101 01001110 01010100 01000101 01010010 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01001111 01001100 01000001 01010010 00100000 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101**_ Uhh... OK. That happened.


	39. CH33

S2-33  
 **Rubies come and go**

* * *

It's been a few days since the Path-forger returned to Earth, only to be given a few botanical samples from Epsilon 7-B that Morlax held in his gemstone pocket dimension, along with a few floral samples William collected during his time on Earth, after which it left again, and with the intent to complete the conversion of Deimos from a barren moon of Mars to a lush green world full of life.

On this particular day, the Freedom Shield had something to report. " _Crystal Gems, I am detecting an unknown spacecraft approaching Earth._ " "Can you provide a visual feed?" William asked.  
From the Scout Drone came a holographic display, showing a strange red vessel. "Oh no..." Peridot seemed to know what it was. "What is that thing, Peri?" Amethyst wondered. "It's a Roaming Eye, a Homeworld tracking vessel!" " _Confirmed. Planetary defense plasma cannon activated. Commencing analysis of Roaming Eye. Vessel size measured. Hull integrity mapped. Defense cannon locking on and charging._ "  
In the distance, a massive railgun easily twice the size of the Crystal Temple rose out of the ocean, seemingly near the Galaxy Warp, and unbelievable amounts of energy could be seen building up inside its Titanic-sized blast emitter.

" _The Roaming Eye is now entering Earth's orbit. Firing planetary defense plasma cannon._ " A huge beam of pure energy blasted out of the railgun, shooting the Roaming Eye clear out of the sky. "Looked like a low-level burst. Roaming Eyes must be pretty weak." William noted.

Suddenly, the Roaming Eye crashed in the vicinity of the barn, having obviously suffered a CATASTROPHIC hull failure. "Holy smokes...!" Peridot wheezed. "DUDE! That thing just blasted that Roaming Eye clear out of the sky!" Amethyst exclaimed.

A hatch in the top opened, releasing a lot of black smoke. "Peridot, unite and strike!" William and Peridot fused into Justice Emerald, shifting the Link Fusion power surge into the Plasma Buster.

Out of the Roaming Eye came... multiple Rubies?  
"State your business!" Justice Emerald demanded, a hexagon showing on the left corner of his visor. The Ruby with only one eye was the one to respond. "We're searching for the Jasper that was assigned to the failed Earth mission!"  
For a moment, a triangle replaced the hexagon on Justice Emerald's visor. "Saturn." The hexagon returned. "I sent her there for her actions against the rightful inhabitants of this planet. The human race was born on Earth, so it is their home, they will fight for it, and we are willing to fight alongside them. Now get out." With that, Justice Emerald unfused, leaving William with his Plasma Buster still formed and Peridot with her limb enhancers in energy weapon configuration, all aimed at the Homeworld Rubies.  
"OK! OK! Just... let us get our ship up and running again. That beam seriously did a number on it." The Ruby with the gemstone just below the left shoulder stated. "Very well. Freedom Shield, notify us if the Rubies try anything, or when they're about to leave." " _Affirmative._ "

Eventually, one of the Scout Drones came to the Gems. " _The Roaming Eye is now departing, and I have downloaded the full schematic construction of this Homeworld tracking vessel._ " "Well, this has certainly been a surprise. What do you all say about... bowling?" Pearl suggested. "Hmm. Good idea. For any of us that don't know, I'll educate you on this human entertainment activity." William added, watching as the Roaming Eye shakily made its way out of Earth's atmosphere.

* * *

The planetary defense plasma cannon is pretty much a Destiny 2 Sleeper Simulant... twice the size of the Crystal Temple... with an unfathomable energy capacity... that shot down a Homeworld vessel... with unbelievable accuracy... in seconds... with ease...!  
EMERALD EFFICIENCY!

Well now.  
THAT happened.

See you next time, guys.


	40. CH34

S2-34  
 **Monster Reunion**

* * *

William and Morlax had been on Deimos for a few months, overseeing the planetary conversion, so when they returned to Earth, the Crystal Gems caught them up on everything they missed, including Steven's new floating ability.

Today, Steven opted to try his healing powers on a corrupted Gem. "That's the Centipeetle mother." William pointed out. "If I can help any of them, I want to help her first."  
With the bubble popped, the corrupted Gem began to regenerate. Steven licked his hand and slapped it on the Gem's gemstone, causing it to turn humanoid. The regeneration was complete, yet the corruption somewhat remained. "It worked." Steven cheered.

"OK, Steven, I'll take it from here." Morlax stated, approaching the semi-corrupted Gem. He pulled a device out of his gemstone, then attached it to the corrupted Gem's arm, activating the device. It began glowing green with Emerald energy, causing an initial jolt which startled the humanoid Centipeetle. "Condition stable." Morlax reported.

"Centi! You're back!" Steven exclaimed, running up to the corrupt Gem, who confusedly returned the hug, cautiously patted him on the back, and looked at the other Gems with a confused expression. "Steven, how about you and 'Centi' follow me back to the Freedom Shield?" "Sure thing, William."

Once everyone returned to the Freedom Shield, William took out a PDA, typed in his own name, and showed it to the semi-corrupted Gem, pointing to himself. He then erased the entry, typed in Steven's name, showed it to the Gem, and pointed to the hybrid. He did this for Lapis, Amethyst, Peridot, and Pearl, in that order.  
The semi-corrupted gem reached for the PDA, which William handed over. After a while, a new name was typed in. Nephrite.

From the unique Emerald home planet flora being grown on Deimos, more anti-corruption fluid could be synthesized. A vial of said serum was given to the corrupted Nephrite, who drank it.  
The corruption weakening! Stabilizing Emerald energy and Emerald anti-corruption serum were doing wonders on the Nephrite, and the energy was locking down the corruption!

"OK then. Nephrite, is there anything you can tell us?" William questioned.  
The Nephrite tried to speak, and the dying corruption had dwindled enough to allow speech. "I'm Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12. I came to Earth with my crew with the order to colonize the planet. When a war broke out, I joined the fight, but we took heavy casualties, and I was separated from my crew. Hessonite ordered a retreat, but I couldn't get away in time. A bright light had flashed through the sky and music had swept through the air, then... everything went dark. Next thing I know, I'm this massive, mindless monster." Nephrite explained. "I'm sorry. Rest assured that you're safe here. The Freedom Shield will bring you up to speed when you feel you're ready." William stated. "OK."

Later that night, William had returned to the Freedom Shield to check on Nephrite.  
"You doing OK in here?" "Yeah... Yeah, I just..." "Still figuring out how to process it all, aren't you?" William asked. "Mmhm. I... I had no idea... If only we knew... how important..." "Nephrite, what happened is nowhere near your fault. It was the Diamonds who wanted the Earth like that, and now they want the Earth gone." "Just like your home planet." Nephrite's words caused William to experience a few bad memories. "Yeah... Just like my home planet..."

The next day, the Crystal Gems were checking up on Nephrite, making sure she was... stable. "Is she... OK?" Pearl asked cautiously. William eased their uncertainty. "All good. Freedom Shield, status report on Nephrite." " _Nephrite corruption level: 0.00%. You have successfully purged the corruption from this Nephrite._ "  
With that, Morlax removed the modified E.E.R from Nephrite's right arm.

Steven approached the restored Gem, worried she might not remember the time they spent together last time. "Centi? Sorry... Nephrite?" The Gem turned to look at the hybrid. "Heh heh... How have you been, buddy? Hey, got any more of those chips? Kinda hungry." She remembered!  
With that, Steven went back to the Temple, then came back a few minutes later with an unopened bag of those 'Chaaaaps' brand chips. After receiving it, Nephrite opened the bag and ate a chip. She definitely remembers those as well, along with how much she liked them. "Nephrite, it's up to you if you want to join our cause or not." Morlax stated. "The protection of life that deserves to go on sounds like a greater cause, but before I make my decision, I'd like to learn more about them. I'd like to understand." "I can help you with that." William offered his ever-growing knowledge on humanity. "Will Steven be there?" "It might take a while, and Steven needs to sleep at night. We'll see how long this takes."

* * *

Steven started the restoration, William and Morlax finished it. This Nephrite is cured.  
So you know, Emerald energy is compatible with all Gems, and it makes a perfect stabilizer.

Goodbye, Centipeetle.  
Hello, Nephrite.

See you all next time.


	41. CH35

S2-35  
 **An unexpected arrival from within**

* * *

It's been weeks since the Nephrite captain was cured and granted access to her old ship, the vessel Peridot once used to trap the Crystal Gems, and it was revealed that the rest of her crew had been corrupted, resulting in more Centipeetles. After successfully helping them, the Nephrite crew showed their thanks and joined their cause.  
Two days ago, the Freedom Shield had created a monitoring station that also acted as a place of residence for the Nephrites, which were each offered a name to distinguish them, along with other details of their own choosing to stand out amongst each other.  
Yesterday, the Nephrites reported something entering Earth's atmosphere at supersonic speeds, too fast and too small for the planetary defense plasma cannon to pick up in time.  
On that same day, Steven, Connie, and Pearl had reported something... troubling. Jasper had returned.

After a previously unnoticed encounter with Jasper, Amethyst had altered her form again, but she was in a soggy mood. Since then, Peridot has been trying tirelessly to cheer her up.  
William ordered the Freedom Shield to search the entire planet for Jasper, and to steer clear of human-populated areas to avoid... unwanted complications.

Today, Steven went into the lion's mane to keep said lion from chewing on his shirts.  
After a while, he was seemingly launched back out, landing on his back. "I've made a horrible mistake! I can fix it!" Steven jumped back into the lion's pocket dimension, followed by William pulling another of Steven's shirts out of the lion's mouth.

Steven came back out. "There's a Gem inside of Lion's mane!" "A Gem? In there? Steven, describe her." William was curious about this.  
Steven took another look inside Lion's mane, then pulled his head back out. "She looks a lot like Blith." "That would mean that this Gem is a Bismuth." William suggested.  
"Steven, bring her out." Garnet ordered. "OK." Steven then poked his head and left arm into Lion's mane, eventually pulling a large Gem out, much to Lion's moderate discomfort.  
Blith approached the new Gem. "Huh. She really DOES look a lot like me. Hmm. Hair's different colors instead of one... Gemstone's in the chest instead of the shoulder... Yup. Looks like a Bismuth, just like me."

Following that, the Bismuth looked over the group recognizing two of them. "Pearl... Garnet..." Pearl rushed in and gave the newcomer a big ol' hug. "BIIIIIISMUUUUUTH! You're back!" "Whoa! Hey! The Pearl I know NEVER jumped into my arms. Hey, did somebody lose a Pearl?! Who do you belong to?" "Nobody!" Pearl proclaimed proudly, to which Bismuth laughed.  
Garnet joined the reunion. "Alright, alright, settle down." "Oh, you're one to talk! Oh, oh, excuse me. You're TWO to talk." In response, Garnet playfully punched Bismuth in the shoulder... with a gauntlet, and Pearl was still laughing. "Hey, cool it! Your Ruby is showing." "Where have you been? We thought you'd been captured, or worse, shattered!" Pearl worried. "Shatter ME? Pshh! Homeworld couldn't lay a scratch on this Gem!"

"Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but would someone care to introduce us?" William interjected. "Guys, this is Bismuth, one of the original Crystal Gems." Garnet stated. "Oh, hey! New recruits! Welcome aboard. We could always use more Amethysts. Huh. You guys got some new tactics or somethin'? A Lapis Lazuli would make an excellent addition! Hmm. I don't know about this one, she seems a bit more... tech-based. Another Pearl, and another Bismuth? That's interesting. Well now. We got humans in our ranks now?" Bismuth asked, to which William responded. "Morlax and I are NOT human. We only look human. We're Emeralds." "WHAT?! Emeralds are extinct!" "Not really. To my knowledge, there are three survivors, one of which was a traitor to her own kind, siding with Homeworld." "I... I'm sorry to hear that..." Bismuth said sadly. "Now then, who's this meatball?" "Hi. I'm Steven. You were in my lion and now you're in my house." "Well, thanks for having me."

"This techno-gem here is Peridot." William introduced Bismuth to Peridot. "Greetings, Bismuth. I am Peridot. I was a technician under Homeworld's order, but ever since my defection, I have been learning the ways of Earth, and I am proud to be a Crystal Gem." "Well, Peridot, you're OK with me." "As a liberated technical expert, I have been cataloging anything of value for the Emerald starships, the Freedom Shield and Path-forger, to report. I'm also apparently the other half of a Link Fusion with William: a cybernetically enhanced Fusion known simply as Justice Emerald." "Justice Emerald, eh? I'd like to see that!" "Perhaps at a later point in time."

"Howdy, Bismuth. The name's Blith. I was an extra Bismuth William managed to sneak off of Homeworld a few centuries before Epsilon 7-B was... blown up. This Pearl here is William's adopted sister. Her name is Vilo." "Hi." Vilo greeted. "Blith, Vilo, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you."

"Rose said she lost track of you at the battle for the Ziggurat! She was worried sick!" Pearl exclaimed. Bismuth's cheerful demeanor faded away, replaced by a concerned and questioning one. "Wait! Where's Rose?" William stepped up to explain. "Rose developed a... romantic relationship with a human. In order to give birth, Rose had to give up her physical form. Steven has her gemstone, but his biological half is from his father." With that, Steven lifted up his shirt, revealing Rose's gem. Bismuth stared in awe. "Oh... Do you... know me?" She asked the hybrid. "No. I'm sorry." "It's not always easy to understand Rose's choices, but we have to stand behind them." Pearl added.

"Rose really is somethin' else..." Without warning, Bismuth seemingly cheered up as if nothing was wrong. "I mean- Look at this! She really is somethin' else! Wow! Everything's changing! Hang on... We're buildin' bases out of wood now?!" She tore a plank of wood from the floor with ease. "Whose terrible idea was this? Where is everybody else?" "Everybody else?" Steven wondered. "Yeah, the rest of the Crystal Gems! Old Crazy Lace! Biggs! Snowflake!"

Following that, the Crystal Gems warped to the strawberry-filled battlefield. "No! No way! We were just here! How long was I out?" Bismuth demanded. "It's been about 5,300 years. We, the Crystal Gems, were able to save the Earth." Pearl replied. "We're all that's left of the Rebellion, huh?" "It's actually been growing a bit as of late. Our most recent additions are a crew of Nephrites that were left behind by Homeworld. They're stationed at an outpost where their ship crashed." William stated.

"Homeworld's final attack on Earth wiped out all of the Crystal Gems." Garnet began. "Rose was able to protect Garnet and myself, and by the looks of it, she was able to protect you as well." Pearl added.

Bismuth then yanked an old axe out of the ground, examining it. "I knew those Homeworld elites were twisted... How many of us did they shatter?! Crazy Lace?! Biggs?! Snowflake?! If I was there, I could've stopped it!" "It's not like they've stopped trying." Garnet stated. "What's that?"

"Homeworld still has its eyes on this planet." "We continue to thwart their plans over and over." Pearl added. "Homeworld isn't gonna stop, no matter what we do." William said. "Good. I thought I wouldn't get another chance to show those uppercrusts who's boss! Let's show 'em what happens when you mess with the Crystal Gems!"

"Bismuth, the Gems on Homeworld outnumber us by a huge margin." Garnet pointed out. "Their technology far surpasses anything we have available on Earth, with the exception of the Emerald tech William and Morlax brought with them." Pearl was right.

"What else is new? Garnet, remember when you and I took on a battalion of Quartz soldiers? We walked out with our stones shining brighter than when we walked in." Bismuth wasn't phased by the odds. "As I recall, it was three battalions." Garnet was definitely cheered up. "And Pearl, remember when we stopped that drop ship? I'll never forget the look on that Nephrite's face when you pulled her out of the cockpit!" "I know. How embarrassing for her." "Ha haaa! So let's pick up where we left off! To the forge!"

The Crystal Gems warped to the side of an inactive volcano, where a forge was supposedly located. As they walked, William and Bismuth were in the middle of a discussion. "What you're saying is that you Emeralds had your own home planet, and Yellow Diamond blew it up?" "Yeah." "That's another reason to bring those uppercrusts down. So while Steven can convince other gems to join our cause from an emotional standpoint, you can successfully recruit them through knowledge alone? I guess you'd make them smart enough to entirely realize their actions, and the consequences they have." "I've never been to this place, so I don't know what to expect." William stated. "Well, since Bismuth was gone, we've had no reason to come back here." Pearl added. "Let's just say this place ain't the same without me."

"We may have taken a devastating blow from Homeworld, but it's time to get down to business." Morlax said.

Up ahead was what looked like a block of metallic alloy under a stream of lava that has long since cooled off and hardened. Bismuth's gemstone glowed, somehow causing the ground to shake before the block opened up, revealing a passageway. "Ta da!" "Now THAT'S an entrance!" Steven awed. "Bravo, Bismuth!" Pearl cheered. Everyone followed Bismuth inside, entering a darkened blacksmith chamber. "It's just like I remember it!"

"It feels like an oven in here." Steven stated. "You think it's hot now?" Bismuth asked. "Yeah, like an oven." "Well, it's about to get WAY hotter!" Bismuth stated, shapeshifting her hand into a hammer and striking a pillar, which got the magma flowing.

A stream of molten magma showered Bismuth as more magma illuminated the room from inside channels in the walls. Bismuth walked out of the magma stream, completely unaffected. "Nothing like a hot lava bath to get into a working mood."

Bismuth then went to work, taking various metal powders from nearby pots. She then thrust her fist into the stream of lava, turning the metal powder into a whole ingot. Blith watched this with intrigue before joining in, forging two metal bricks. "Homeworld used us Bismuths to erect spires and temples for the gem elites to enjoy, but Rose taught me that my life was my own, that I could choose to do whatever I wanted. So I chose this." Bismuth had forged her ingot into a sword while shape-shifting her hands into hammers. "I outfitted the entire Rebellion. Every material weapon used by the Crystal Gems was made right here in this forge. Wait. Is it still here?" Bismuth then went over to a chest and opened it. "Aha! Here." She tossed a couple of knuckle spikes to Garnet, who caught them and formed her gauntlets over them. "Something to pack a little extra punch. Pearl, why don't you try a trident?" Bismuth then tossed something that looked like bull horns over to Pearl, who attached it to her spear. "Oh, Bismuth, you shouldn't have." Pearl was in awe at the weaponary enhancement. "It's no big deal. I was working on them since before... well... May as well give them to you now." "It was worth the wait." Garnet praised.

Bismuth then turned to Amethyst. "Hey, deep cut. Don't think I forgot about you. Whatcha packin'?" "Oh, this?" Amethyst summoned her whip. "Oh, wow. Not every quartz can make a whip like this. You mind if I take a look?" "Go ahead." "I've got an idea." Bismuth walked away, modified Amethyst's whip, and returned it to her. "Here. With this, you can really do some damage." The whip lost the crystal barbing in favor of having three lassos with spiked orbs at the ends.

William spoke up. "Excuse me, Bismuth. I would like to request a custom modification for my own signature weapon." "OK then. Let's see what you've got." The Emerald then shape-shifted his right arm into a smaller-scale, green colored Laser Light Cannon. Bismuth's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped when she saw the Plasma Buster. "What can you do?" No response. "Bismuth? You OK there?"

Garnet slapped Bismuth in the side of the face to snap her out of her trance. "W-what... Sorry. I guess I... I-I don't know what came over me. I guess I just wasn't expecting you to just turn your arm into a Laser Light Cannon." "I call it the Plasma Buster. Anyway, about that modification." "Oh, right, yeah. Whatcha need?" "Think you could make an attachment that would be better suited for heavy duty? Maybe something to focus the beam?" William asked. "You want Bismuth to create an attachment for your Plasma Buster that will turn it into a laser cutter?" Peridot wondered. "Well, yeah."

"Let's see what I can do." William laid his transformed arm on the anvil, allowing Bismuth and Blith to work together on the new attachment. Blith took the measurements and drew up a design, while Bismuth shaped the materials accordingly. The newly forged piece was clamped onto William's Plasma Buster, giving it the appearance of a funneled laser emitter.

Next up was Morlax, who presented his Emerald pulse rifle. Blith took over. "I was the one who designed these weapons. I know the things inside and out." Blith then hit a few buttons behind a plate of the Emerald pulse rifle's frame, causing the weapon to unfold, revealing its extensive inner workings. Blith pulled out a small cylindrical piece out of the weapon, revealing said piece to be a very small chunk of crystal that's been internally shaped by a specialized laser. Blith got to work on modifying the energy beam weapon as Bismuth was trying, and failing, to comprehend the tech that has just been presented in her forge.

Seeing that Bismuth was having major difficulty understanding what she was witnessing, William decided to confront her. "Can't wrap your head around that weapon Morlax carries around?" "What in the blue blazes is that thing?" "That is an Emerald pulse rifle. Us Emeralds may not have originally believed in the concept of war, but with our kind having been brought this close to extinction, times were bound to change. I could bring you further up-to-date, if you'd like." "Yeah. Sure." "However, there is the possibility that your head will hurt even worse."

With that, William and Bismuth departed from the forge, and returned to Beach City, where William brought Bismuth to the Freedom Shield, where she would learn everything.

* * *

Bismuth's back, but we're not having that episode's conflict. However, it seemed as if her mind was beginning to break at what she was witnessing.

The most advanced weapon she made was the Breaking Point, but that was put to shame the moment Blith opened Morlax's Emerald pulse rifle.

See you next time, guys.


	42. CH36

S2-36  
 **Beta**

* * *

William and Peridot, as Justice Emerald, have been practicing with the new Plasma Buster laser utter attachment, seeing just how powerful it was, finding that the Plasma Buster's output has been strengthened significantly, even if the beam was shrunken.  
During these training sessions, William also helped Peridot further develop her ferrokinesis, all the way to the point where she is now capable of lifting cars and trucks with ease.

On their way back to the Crystal Temple, William noticed Morlax heading to Lapis Lazuli's place of residence. "Don't you think how frequent Morlax has been paying Lapis a visit is kinda suspicious?" William asked. "Actually, yes, but I'd prefer to leave him to his own business. If you want, you can go talk to him. I'll be waiting here."

William made his way over to Morlax, catching up to him as the Emerald adventurer was waiting at the entrance to the mostly submerged structure William created for the blue gem. "Morlax, what are you doing?" "Oh! William! I did not expect you to be here." "You've been visiting Lapis at a suspiciously high rate. Care to explain?" Before Morlax could utter a word, the wooden door opened, revealing Lapis Lazuli. "Morlax, you're here! Oh. Hi, William!" "Lapis." William nodded in greeting. He then noticed that Morlax was nervous. From what he knew about his old friend, Morlax was NEVER nervous. Something was up.

"So... Morlax, why do you keep visiting Lapis at such a frequent rate? I've been meaning to ask you that." The questioning only made Morlax even more nervous. Without another word, Lapis gently pulled Morlax in by the arm, then faced William. "Don't bother him about this, OK? Have a nice day, William." Lapis then closed the door, but William immediately came to a conclusion. "Oh, I see what's going on. They're like Steven and Connie!" He said, smirking.

With that, William rejoined Peridot. "So, what happened?" She asked. "They're practically becoming Percy and Pierre." "Morlax and Lapis?!" "Eeeyup." It then made more sense to Peridot, who put together the facts in her head.

Just outside the Temple, Amethyst was still moping around, so Peridot rushed over to comfort her, the caring concern bringing a smile to William's face. She had come so far, and Peridot now understands and respects the human ways.  
"I don't think I'll ever be good enough..." Amethyst sighed. "Amethyst, you're WAY better than Jasper! Why are you comparing yourself to her? It's ridiculous! Amethysts and Jaspers are two completely different quartzes. You may be both from Earth, but your Kindergartens are radically different." Peridot's words perked William's interest. "Is that so?"  
"We're both from Earth, huh?" "Yeah! You're from the Prime Kindergarten in Facet 5, while Jasper is from the Beta Kindergarten in Facet 9! You haven't seen the place, have you?" "No, I haven't." "Oh. Maybe you should, so you can see how poorly the other half was made. Seriously. Let's get going. You'll get a laugh out of this."

Using the Warp Pad in the Temple, the Gem group, along with Steven and a Freedom Shield Scout Drone, arrived at a red desert. "Here we are. Jasper's origin, the Beta Kindergarten." Peridot announced. _"Location identified and recorded."  
_ "It's bright out here." "Well, we're in a desert, Amethyst. It's not like there's any cover from the sun's warmth." William had a point.  
"It's red." Said Steven, AKA Captain Obvious. "No kidding. It's red sandstone. See what I was talking about? We're lucky this place hasn't blown away. Beta, am I right?" Peridot laughed. "Seems like an act of desperation to me." "Well, you're right about that, William. It gets worse further along."  
Entering the Kindergarten, Peridot began her inspections. "This place has got the right growing conditions in a pinch, I suppose. The downside to that fact is that it's too small! Obviously, it was a total rush job. Halfway through the rebellion, Homeworld scrambled to generate extra soldiers on the ground." All the exit holes seemed to just be scrambled everywhere as evidence to Peridot's statements. "The holes don't line up! Looks like they just threw injectors wherever! Oh, and that one? This Carnelian came out sideways! The walls are curved, so how could she not?!" "I was made in a comparatively better place! Wow..." "It really makes you appreciate the Prime Kindergarten, Amethyst. Your Kindergarten was thought through so well! You might have spent extra time in the ground, but everything else is stacked in your favor, AND the extended incubation left you with a slimmer profile and superior mobility, just like William said! A great location, with great holes, even spacing, and consistent depth. A real kindergartener gets it right. Not only that, but consider what might've happened to you if you hadn't spent extra time in the ground! You'd have likely been shattered, you wouldn't have stayed at the Prime Kindergarten, you'd have never met Rose Quartz, I never would've had feelings to confess toward you-" "Wait... WHAT?!" "I said that out loud, didn't I?"  
"Please continue, Peridot." William plainly put. "The requirement any Gem would want is a vertical alignment, so no angle in the exit, leaving a clean, strong silhouette. Look at this... None of these holes are even close!" "So, what of that one?" Amethyst asked, pointing to a larger hole that had its arms in an upward pose. "Jasper..." "So, that's the hole Jasper came out of? It's the biggest one here so far." William stated, looking over all other holes in sight. "Well, we already know she's tall. Let me take a closer look. A kindergartener can tell a lot about a Gem's makeup and flaws by their exit marks."

Peridot then used her limb enhancers to jump up to the hole and examine its interior. "The problem here is... Wait... No. Um... This part... Hm. There's this detail where if you count the steps to the back..." Peridot then came back out, with a defeated look on her face.  
"What's wrong?" Amethyst asked. "She's got frictional rock melt too, so it's glass all the way to the back. I... I've never seen an exit hole this perfect." "Ugh... So it's true..."  
Steven spoke up, getting Amethyst's attention. "Amethyst, that doesn't matter. Who you are isn't about where you came from, it's who you choose to be, what you worked hard for, what you care about! That's what really matters." "Yeah, you're right!" She was cheered up now. "It's about who I wanna be, and I choose to be the Gem that beats Jasper into the dirt!" At this, Steven and Peridot went from happy to frightened and concerned.  
William spoke up. "Why don't you let someone else get that job done?" Peridot looked at him, understanding what the Emerald meant.  
"I'm doing it! Not just for me, but for all the weird holes out there! Like this guy, and Skinny up there, and... THIS mess!" "Amethyst, that's-" "Yeah! I bet she was great." "No, wait. Something's wrong here." Peridot then examined the hole Amethyst pointed to last. "This hole's got new marks. It's been dug out recently, and not by natural causes. It's... handmade?"

The group proceeded further into the Beta Kindergarten, finding more strangely enlarged exit holes, but with the ripped off legs of the injectors embedded in the surrounding rock like the bars of a prison cell. "These aren't exit holes anymore." "Then what are they?" Steven asked, approaching one of the barred holes.  
Suddenly, a corrupted Gem came out of the hole's shadowy interior, revealing itself as it tried to attack Steven.  
As Steven got away from the mutant, the growls of a lot more corrupted Gems filled the area. "Corrupted Gems... in cages?" Steven wondered. "Why?! Who would do such a thing?!" Peridot questioned.  
As the dust settled, the answer to Peridot's question was revealed. It was Jasper.

The Scout Drone assumed a battle stance with its arms, an Emerald pulse rifle in its mechanical graspers. " _Target spotted, 30 meters! Weapons free!_ "  
Steven summoned his shield, Amethyst brought out her whip, William formed his Plasma Buster, and Peridot turned both her arm enhancement to weapon mode. They were ready for combat.

* * *

There you are, Jasper. Now prepare to face TWO Fusions!

See you next time.

Oh, and don't worry about Bismuth, she and Blith are back at the volcanic forge at this point.


	43. CH37

S2-37  
 **Double trouble, double it again**

* * *

"Everyone, stop!" William ordered. Steven, Amethyst, Peridot, and the Freedom Shield Scout Drone ceased their advance, and just in time too, as Jasper didn't seem to notice them. "It looks as if she's been collecting corrupted Gems, but we need to figure out her reasoning behind this."

One of the Gem monsters roared out, only for the big orange brute to kick its hand against one of the bars. "Pipe down! You take orders from me now! You were once a quartz too, weren't you? What happened to you?" The corrupted Gem's only response was a growl. "Disgraceful. The fact that I've resorted to recruiting you freaks is unbelievable! You're almost as bad as that Crystal runt. Look at you! This planet ruins everything! Well, everything but me."

" _I have signaled for the Mechanos to come to your current location._ " "Good idea, Freedom Shield." William then spotted Amethyst starting to sneak off, but he grabbed her and pulled her back. "We need to be patient. We need to wait here until the Mechanos arrives." "Wait... The Mechanos? Your automated robot from that contest?" Amethyst questioned. "That's right. Not even Jasper can stand a chance against Emerald tech with brute force alone." Amethyst started seeing the reasoning behind William's decision, and subsequentially agreed on the plan.

"I will never let this planet twist me like it twisted all of you. Homeworld is embarrassed by your weakness! You deserve to suffer! We all only get what we deserve." They heard Jasper say, right before hearing the Warp Pad activate, followed by lightly quaking footsteps. Even Jasper noticed the shaking ground. "What was that...?" The corrupted Gems seemed to be cowering back into the dark of their cages, as if they knew whatever was coming could easily overpower and destroy them if it so chose.

At that point, the Mechanos had arrived at the position of the Crystal Gems, holding a new weapon created by the Freedom Shield's Construction Drones. The weapon looked like a heavily modified Emerald energy fusion coil, outfitted with six barrels in the front, each of which looked like the front of a Laser Light Cannon, and there appeared to be a few wires connecting the weapon to the hand of the Mechanos in order to supply the weapon with its own secondary energy.  
Jasper looked over and caught sight of the Mechanos. "OH MY STARS! WHAT IS THAT?!"  
The Gems then came out of hiding for a confrontation. "Ugh... The Crystal Gems! Why am I not surprised? We meet again, Rose." "This is Steven, the offspring of Rose Quartz!" William yelled out. "Offspring? Rose had interspecies relations with a human?!" "He's the result!" "Not like it matters. You have no place in this or any world! Every Gem is made for a purpose: To serve the order of the Diamonds. Those who cannot fit inside this order must be purged! To come out misshapen, to reshape yourself outside your purpose, and to defend this ruined, worthless planet is a disgrace!"  
Peridot spoke up. "You're wrong about this planet! The Earth isn't bad at all!" "What are YOU doing here?" Jasper questioned. "I'm a Crystal Gem! I now know the truth! We're not afraid of you! Also, I've got metal powers! Allow me to demonstrate!" Peridot extended an arm to one of the metal legs embedded in the canyon walls, easily tearing it out with nothing more than her mind.  
This caught Jasper by surprise. "Peridots can do that...?" Now it was William's turn to speak up. "Peridots weren't given the chance to develop naturally, meaning no one ever knew their true potential, not even them! The same can be said for Pearls! Homeworld sees them as servants, but the Emerald race saw something more in them! Why do you think we conducted raids on Gem Kindergartens?!" "That was YOU?!" "The Emeralds may be close to extinction, but we sent away as many liberated Gems as we could." "Sacrificing your own life to ensure the survival of others? I respect the nobility." "Two liberated Gems were actually onboard my starship, a Pearl named Vilo and an extra Bismuth named Blith. While Blith was a good friend of mine, I took Vilo in as a sister. You do know what a sister is, don't you?" "I'm not clueless, Emerald!" "That's William to you!"

A battle would soon begin, but William had something else to take care of. "Mechanos, take out the corrupted Gems!" " _Authorized user. Issued command authorized._ " The Mechanos disengaged from targeting Jasper and went to deal with the corrupted Gems in the makeshift cages.  
"If you think so lowly of Fusions, what say we have a second opinion?" Jasper growled at William's words. "Peridot, unite and strike!" The gemstones of both William and Peridot began glowing, resulting in synchronized Fusion energy surrounding them in a green vortex. The cyclone of energy eventually exploded, the Link Fusion residual power surge being redirected into a massive blast, which Jasper just narrowly avoided, sweating profusely at the fact that she just was mere millimeters from nothing short of pure atomization.

When the dust settled, Justice Emerald was visible, Plasma Buster at the ready, its barrel smoking. "That's no normal Fusion..." Justice Emerald then responded, the triangle for Peridot shown on the corner of his visor. "Jasper of Homeworld, behold... an Emerald Link Fusion. We are Justice Emerald!" "Is Fusion the only trick you Crystal Gems know?!" The triangle was replaced by a hexagon. "Not even close. It doesn't even make up a whole 1% of what we can do."  
Justice Emerald formed a green gauntlet, then rushed in to attack at an unexpected speed. The fist made contact, sending Jasper flying into a wall as the initial impact resulted in a sonic boom. The gauntlet vanished, the hovering digits that lined its fingers now rearranging themselves into Amethyst's whip.

Suddenly, Jasper bolted out of the new hole, wearing her helmet as just jumped at the Link Fusion like a cannonball. Thinking faster than fast, Justice Emerald reformed a gauntlet, then formed a shield and attached it to the arm-worn weapon. The impact let out a second sonic boom that rang through the air, but Jasper's helmet had shattered, not even leaving so much as a scratch on Justice Emerald's defense.  
Jasper was dazed, her head aching like nobody's business.

Justice Emerald turned to Steven and Amethyst, both shapes present on his visor. "Care to double up?" They knew what he meant, so they began the Fusion process.

As Jasper recovered, Justice Emerald formed Sardonyx's war hammer. The Homeworld loyalist regained her equilibrium, then went in for round 2, only to get smacked straight into orbit by an unprecedented amount of force.

Behind the Link Fusion, a glow enveloped Steven and Amethyst, revealing their Fusion. The new Fusion had hair that reached to the shoulders and was styled similarly to Amethyst's, with the dark brown color and slight curliness of Steven's, obscuring the left eye. "So... What's your name?" "Hmm. I think a Rose Quartz, and an Amethyst make a..." The Fusion then merged Steven's shield and Amethyst's whip into what looked like a yoyo. "Smoky Quartz!" "Welcome to the Crystal Gems, Smoky Quartz. Our first objective is to bring Jasper down and out. Speak of the devil, here she comes."

Jasper fell to the ground, impacting it with her back. She recovered in seconds. "What the... TWO FUSIONS?!" "I guess we've doubled up on double trouble." The new Fusion joked.  
Without warning, Jasper ran to one of the remaining corrupted Gems. "I... will NOT be beaten by Fusions!" Somehow, she managed to fuse with the mindless beast, and she was in full control of the new Fusion.  
Right as Justice Emerald and Smoky Quartz were about to attack the Fusion, the Mechanos intervened, using its new beam weapon to completely destabilize the corrupted Fusion.

With the battle now concluded, the Mechanos destroyed the corrupted Gem's physical form, allowing another of the incoming Scout Drones to contain the leftover gemstone.  
Jasper then came to, but something was happening. When she fused with that corrupted Gem, she ended up contracting its ailment. "That is... disgusting." Justice Emerald shivered. "It's... corruption." Smoky Quartz became so distressed out that Steven and Amethyst were separated.  
With Jasper corrupted, Justice Emerald went through his choices at the speed of an Emerald starship supercomputer, and Peridot seemed to be keeping up. "Peridot, care to finish off Mango-face and put her out of both hers and our misery?" The hexagon was then replaced with Peridot's triangle. "With pleasure."  
Justice Emerald then jumped into action as Jasper succumbed to the corruption. Landing on the corrupted Gem's back, the Link Fusion formed the Plasma Buster once more and unleashed hell in a single burst. Contrary to her prior claim, Jasper had been defeated by a Fusion... or rather two Fusions and a machine.

With the deed done, Justice Emerald unfused, followed by William picking up and bubbling Jasper's gemstone. He stared at it with disgust and irritation. "I never want to see you again, Mango-face. I'll let the rest of the Crystal Gems decide what to do with you."

Later that day, once William had disposed of Jasper, he received a contact from Peridot, saying for him to return to the barn.  
William had arrived, only to see five familiar Rubies trapped behind metallic restraits, courtesy of Peridot. "Why are the Rubies back?" He wondered. Peridot could be heard grumbling. "They crashed the Roaming Eye into the barn while I was watching that new show." "New show?" " _It is known as 'Mega Man: Fully Charged'._ " "Fascinating. I should watch more TV in my spare time instead of the constant maintenance." " _Indeed. With my systems at full functionality, I am able to maintain myself. I learned from the best Emerald mechanics, and you are one of them._ "

With the unexpected dispute promptly resolved, the Gems turned their attention back to the Rubies. "Freedom Shield, can you interface with the Roaming Eye's internal computer systems and figure out why they're here?" " _Negative. The Roaming Eye's computer was further damaged by the planetary defense plasma cannon upon atmospheric entry and destroyed in the crash. We must interrogate the operators._ " "The one with the visor looks like she knows something."  
William and Peridot then approached the Ruby Steven referred to as 'Doc'. "Alright, Doc. Tell us what you know. Why are you here?" The Emerald demanded. "I have nothing to say to a species that should be long dead!" The Ruby defended, turning away. She should not have said that, because now she set off a ticking time bomb. William's green gemstone glowed red, which was a definite indication of a growing rage.  
Suddenly, William slammed the wall with a green gauntlet, startling the Ruby he was interrogating. "LISTEN HERE AND LISTEN GOOD, YOU IMBECILIC LUMP OF CRYSTALLINE CLAY! YOU WILL TELL US WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE, and maybe, JUST MAYBE, you'll live to see the next day!" Now the Ruby was terrified beyond belief, even more so when William placed the receiving end of his Plasma Buster right up against her gemstone... and the Plasma Buster was building up a blast. She had only seconds before she was reduced to vaporized, irradiated dust particles. "AAAAHHHH! OK! OK! We picked up Jasper from Saturn, right where you said she was, but she took control of the ship and flew back here instead of letting us bring her back to Homeworld! She jumped out into the vacuum of space, hurdling straight to Earth, and we followed her so we could bring her home, but your planetary defenses shot us down! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Now that he had the information he needed, William reverted his right arm, rejoining the Crystal Gems. "What did she say?" Peridot asked. "They picked Jasper up from Saturn, only for her to forcefully take over and use the Roaming Eye to return to Earth." "Well, Jaspers never give up no matter what. They're overly-dedicated soldiers."  
The Ruby with the gemstone in the place of her left eye could be heard. "Where's Jasper now?" "She fell victim to the corruption of the Diamonds, after which I disposed of her."

"What do we do with the Rubies now?" Peridot wondered. "We'll send them to Titan, then leave them to cool off and think about what they've done to deserve this icy exile."

* * *

The Rubies came and went, and we now know how Jasper returned to Earth.

See you in the next one.


	44. CH38

S2-38  
 **A Diamond**

* * *

After being on Deimos for at least a few months to assist the Path-forger in the final processes of making the once barren moon safely habitable for human life, William had returned to Earth, only to see something on the way. It resembled that arm-like Homeworld ship from a while back, but this one wasn't green. It was blue. "Freedom Shield, disengage the planetary defense plasma cannon. We need answers."  
The Freedom Shield was entering Earth's atmosphere, ready to scan the local topography for the most optimal landing spot, temporarily recalibrating its landing gear for the naturally uneven terrain. " _Gem signatures detected. Emerald William, there appears to be a Diamond and a Pearl in this area. However, I am also detecting... What's Steven doing here?_ " "Steven's here?" The display showed Steven... and Greg?

William transferred the control operating functions back to the Freedom Shield's onboard AI, then headed to the exit ramp. The hatch opened, allowing the Emerald to jump from the top of the atmosphere and land on the ground as he shape-shifted into a sandbag, thus nullifying the landing impact and minimizing any noise. He shifted back, joining the two. "Steven, Greg, what're you two doing here?" The Emerald asked, afterwards taking notice of Steven's apparent lack of realization that he was crying.

Before either of them could answer, a faint voice could be heard. "Oh, Pink... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Watching from a nearby bush, the trio spotted a large figure, accompanied by what looked like another Pearl. "I should've done more. Yellow says it'll all be over soon. I wonder what you would think. This is your planet, after all. I still think it is."

Steven fell into a sitting position, still hidden behind the bush. "Whoa, buddy!" "Steven, what's going on?" William wondered. "My dreams... I was seeing through her eyes! I've been crying her tears!"  
Before William could question Steven's words, he heard the large figure speak again. "What are you doing over there?" The voice of the Pearl was then heard, but much closer. "I thought I heard someone. I think we're not alone."  
"Don't worry. I'll handle this." Greg then rose up from the cover of the bush, startling the Pearl. "Hi. Nice day out, huh? I didn't see you there, which was surprising since you're practically a walking skyscraper."  
"Pearl?" "My Diamond, I've found a native." It made sense now. The Freedom Shield detected a Diamond and a Pearl, and here they were. Blue Diamond and her Blue Pearl. "Yeah, I'm native to here alright. Annyeonghaseyo, your highness." "Bring it here."  
"Your father speaks Korean?" William quietly questioned Steven, who shrugged his shoulders.  
Greg and Blue Pearl then turned to walk over to Blue Diamond. "Dad, no!" Steven whispered out, trying to get Greg to come back.

"How curious. I'm impressed by humanity's ability to survive in the wild. What a strange planet. Where else would a being as fragile as a human live, while a being as powerful as a Diamond perish? This is where it happened, where she was broken." Blue Diamond stated sadly. "Were you close?" Greg asked. "Very." "I'm awfully sorry. I know how hard it is to move on when you've lost someone." "You do?" "I lost someone very important to me too. I miss her every single day, and I think about her all the time... but she's never coming back. That feeling can be so hard to be OK with. I already knew I wasn't the only one to experience this sort of grief. Other people have had this same heartbreaking loss, to lose close friends, relatives, even family." "I'm surprised that human beings are capable of understanding how I feel. It's a shame. There's a geo-weapon incubating in your planet that will destroy everything shortly, but none of you deserve that." "Geo-weapon, huh? Geological weaponization? Talk about using the environment to your advantage." "True. You know, I really shouldn't be here, but I'm glad I came back one last time, so I can save one last piece of her legacy." "Is that so?"  
Suddenly, Blue Diamond snatched up Greg in her grasp, causing William to act, but Steven stayed hidden.  
"Blue Diamond!" William got her attention. "Another human?" "In some cases, looks can be deceiving!" He raised up his hand, revealing his identity to Blue Diamond. "You... You're the Emerald Yellow told me about!" "Name's William! Now then, release your captive or I will be forced to order the reactivation of the planetary defense plasma cannon!" Not wanting to take her chances, Blue Diamond complied, gently placing Greg back on the ground. "This planet will be destroyed soon, you're simply confining this human to his fate!" "Are you talking about the Cluster? Check Pluto's orbit. That's where I put it after removing it from the Earth." "You... removed the Cluster...?" "That's right." "You've given this planet back its future!" "Not just Earth. The once barren Martian moon known as Deimos has been terraformed and atmospherically reshaped. It was once nothing more than dead rock, but it is now another world of life. This is the Emerald way." "You Emeralds take barren planetoids and make them hospitable for organic life?" "All sentient life deserves a chance at evolution, civilization, and cosmic equality. The human race is no exception. However, the Gems of Homeworld have lost that chance, setting out to wipe out any and all other life forms, spreading across the universe like a stone-cold plague, and the Emeralds were against it. Any life you set out to eradicate, we set out to protect and save. By the galactic authority of the Emerald Order, I hereby place this solar system under Code E-18! You are not welcome here! Any violations will be met with lethal force on sight!"  
Blue Diamond's eyes widened. "Code E-18...? Pearl, we must depart immediately!" "Yes, my Diamond!" Blue Diamond's palanquin flew in from over the hill, allowing the Diamond and her Pearl to depart, returning to the blue hand-ship they arrived in.  
With that, a warp drive was used to blink them out of the solar system.

"Well, now that Code E-18 has been instated, the planetary defense plasma cannon array should be installed." " _Confirmed, Emerald William. However, I doubt we have enough specially refined resources remaining to accomplish this task._ " "Send Mining Drones to various planets. We need those materials." " _I will be performing an intensive analysis for the materials we must refine for construction. I will also be monitoring for any Homeworld communications directed toward this solar system._ " "If they want to negotiate, they've missed their chance a long time ago."

* * *

Earth's solar system is now under an Emerald Code.

Blue Diamond, you've not abducting Greg this time!

See you next time, folks.


	45. CH39

S2-39  
 **Unwanted visitors**

* * *

Ever since William proclaimed Emerald Code E-18 on the entire solar system, the Freedom Shield has been occupying itself with various tasks, and one of which strangely required the presence of the actual starship. Whatever it was, it ended up with the Freedom Shield dropping off a load of humans in strange clothing and a group of Amethyst soldiers on the perfectly inhabitable moon of Deimos, along with having a large amount of new data for William and Morlax to examine.  
"Welcome back, old friend." " _It is good to be back. On my trip, I pulled information about Earth from the Homeworld facility, concerning a 'Pink Diamond'._ " "Got any further info on that?" " _Yes. Earth was Pink Diamond's one and only colony. Eventually, the Crystal Gems rebelled, and their leader, Rose Quartz, shattered Pink Diamond in battle._ " "Do you think the rebellion stemmed from the Gems discovering the Emerald caches and learning our ways?" " _Considering that the Earth has been afflicted with Code E-8 quite some time before Homeworld first discovered the Earth, that is a reasonable and logical assumption. I found their first record of Earth within their databanks and compared the timestamp. We found the Earth a considerably long period of time prior to their discovery._ " "The Earth was considered sacred grounds to the Emeralds. Do the Diamonds think they can just violate it whenever they feel like it?" " _Yellow Diamond wishes to destroy the Earth in order to wipe out the Crystal Gems._ " "Let's not let her." " _In other news, the planetary defense plasma cannon array is nearing 90% completion. Old Emerald archives still hold true, revealing an abandoned Homeworld colony in another solar system. Zero Gem population, all systems destroyed, perfect place for scavenging materials._ " "You're picking up what they leave behind." " _One man's trash is another man's treasure. Furthermore, everything has some value in one way or another. Should it fail one purpose, give it another._ " "A logically sound hypothesis. Carry on."

As William was heading to the Big Donut to grab a fresh one, he saw Steven at the restaurant's entrance, yet the door appeared to be locked, and there was no business today. "Hmm. Looks like Lars and Sadie are out. I guess I can just get myself a sandwich. Nothing better than homemade."  
On his way to the Crystal Temple, William heard a child's voice. "Excuse me." This snapped him into an alarmed state, causing the Emerald to stop in his tracks and look to the source of the voice. To his left was a small Gem with a cherubic appearance and a bright cyan-blue complexion, navy blue eyes, no nose, and chin-length, cerulean-blue hair worn in a bobbed style, with clothing that vaguely resembled a prep school uniform, consisting of a blue vest worn over a dark blue dress with a white collar, white wrist-length gloves, white knee-high socks, dark blue flat shoes, and a dark blue hair bow in her hair, and finally she had a teardrop-shaped gemstone located beneath her left eye. This was no Gem type he's ever seen.  
"Are you William?" "Emerald William, member of the Emerald Order, at your service. Do you have any questions?" "Do you know where my dad is?" "Gems don't have fathers. Sorry to say it, but I can't help you there." The Gem formed a pair of wings from her back that were seemingly made of water, then flew away, leaving William very much confused. "OK then, goodbye... ⌰⟟⏁⏁⌰⟒ ⋔⟟⌇⌇ ⎍g⌰⊬." The Gem's voice was then heard again. "What was that?" "Huh?" "You made some weird sound and I couldn't understand it. It sounded like... 'zieggle nyev thwaxzol'." "Oh, that. I was just mumbling to myself. I got hungry, so I was heading home to make myself something to eat. A turkey and swiss grilled cheese sandwich sounds like something interesting to try. First time for everything."  
With that, William returned to the Crystal Temple, then entered the house and headed to the kitchen area to make himself a bite. The resulting grilled cheese sandwich... wasn't half bad. "Could be worse. Could be better. Still tastes good. It doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, which is a plus. I can improve this recipe." The Emerald said to himself, cleaning off the pan and spatula.

It was then that a Surveillance Drone from Morlax's Path-forger starship paid William a visit. "The Path-forger! What brings you- uh... one of your Surveillance Drones here?" " _Emerald William, the Freedom Shield has notified me of an unknown signal that was not detected by the planetary defense plasma cannon, nor the existing plasma cannon array nodes. Steven has also reported that multiple townspeople have mysteriously gone missing._ " The Path-forger stated.  
William thought about this new info for a bit before formulating a hypothesis. "That Gem... I saw a strange new Gem on my way here not too long ago!" He then projected a holographic image from his gemstone, pulled directly from his more recent memories. " _I will share this intel with the Freedom Shield._ " Silence was all that could be heard before the deep male voice of the Path-forger was once again emitted from the Surveillance Drone. " _The Freedom Shield has consulted the data it has downloaded from Pink Diamond's human zoo. The Gem you encountered was an Aquamarine._ " "About the missing people... Who are they?" " _Steven has reported that Lars, Sadie, Jamie, and Onion are nowhere to be seen. Steven, Connie, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Morlax, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, Blith, and Vilo have been dispatched for search and recovery. The Nephrite crew is also reporting technical difficulties concerning unknown interference._ " "That must be how Aquamarine got through the planetary defense plasma cannon array undetected." " _That is a logical assumption._ "  
Having been briefed on the mission, William headed into the forest near Beach City, using one of his devices to locate Steven and Connie.

Just then, he heard Aquamarine's voice. "Topaz! I found one! I found a Connie!" William ran to the source of the sound, finding a large yellow Fusion accompanying Aquamarine. The Fusion herself appeared to have the missing townsfolk merged into her physical form, and Connie had just been added to the collection!  
William made himself known. "Aquamarine and Topaz Gems of Homeworld, you are in violation of Emerald Code E-18! Release your captives and vacate yourselves from this solar system or you will be eradicated! Comply immediately or face total disintegration!" He ordered, forming his Plasma Buster.  
"If you open fire, you'll also disintegrate your precious humans, and you don't want that, do you?" Aquamarine teased. William's Plasma Buster was promptly unmade, followed by the Emerald's physical form becoming semitransparent, a bubble surrounding his gemstone. He stuck his left arm through the Topaz Fusion's head, then restored his physicality, reducing the Fusion to its two identical gemstones, and freeing the missing townsfolk.

Aquamarine turned the ribbon in her hair into a wand, only for William's reformed Plasma Buster to emancipate it in the blink of an eye.  
As William faced Aquamarine, Steven bubbled the Topaz Gems, preventing them from regenerating.  
Aquamarine dodged beam after beam from the Emerald's shape-shifted weapon, only for an energy blast to hit her from behind and knock her down to the ground. It was Peridot. "I heard your Plasma Buster firing off, so I figured you found the intruders. What have we got here? An Aquamarine on Earth?" "Not just her. She was accompanied by a Fusion of two Topaz Gems." William gestured to the two bubbled gemstones. "Well, since they're in violation of Code E-18, what do you think the best course of action would be?" "Let's flip a coin. If heads, the Topaz Gems will be disintegrated. If tails, they'll be kept in containment. Steven?" The boy took out a quarter and tossed it into the air, allowing it to land in the palm of his right hand. "It's tails. I'll send 'em back to the Temple." He tapped the two bubbles, sending them to their new destination. "What about Aquamarine?" Peridot asked. Steven flipped the coin again, catching it in his hand. "Heads!"  
"Peridot, let's give Aquamarine a taste of a Link Fusion power surge, shall we?" "I like what you're getting at." The two fused together right on the spot, leaving Justice Emerald to absorb the power surge into his Plasma Buster and aim the excess energy straight at Aquamarine. "No... No! NO-" An energy beam twice the size of William's Plasma Buster blasts reduced Aquamarine to a cloud of dust, and not even her gemstone remained. Aquamarine was disintegrated.

The citizens were returned to their normal lives, the Crystal Gems resumed their rightful duties, and William had sent a one-way message directly to Yellow Diamond.

On Homeworld, Yellow Diamond was looking through the reports on other colonies. Her Pearl called for her. "My Diamond?" "Yes, Pearl?" "I just received a message from Earth." "What of the Aquamarine and Topaz Gems Blue Diamond sent there?" "We... lost contact with them." Yellow Diamond's eyes widened. "Show me."  
A large holographic screen appeared in front of Yellow Diamond, displaying the message.

⏃⍾⎍⏃⋔⏃⍀⟟⋏⟒: ⎅⟒⌇⏁⍀⍜⊬⟒⎅.  
⏁⍜⌿⏃⋉ g⟒⋔⌇: c⍜⋏⏁⏃⟟⋏⟒⎅.  
⎎⎍⍀⏁⊑⟒⍀ ⎐⟟⍜⌰⏃⏁⟟⍜⋏⌇ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⋏⍜⏁ ⏚⟒ ⏁⍜⌰⟒⍀⏃⏁⟒⎅.

"That language... Pearl, call for Thavix! I need a translation." "Yes, my Diamond! Right away!"

* * *

Emerald Code E-18 is not something to be taken lightly.

See you next time, guys.


	46. CH40

S2-40  
 **An illusion discovered and revealed**

* * *

Another day, another potentially eventful occasion.  
The Freedom Shield had finished the construction of a new Warp Pad on Mars's moon of Deimos, and was using it to move any civilians who chose to go to this newly hospitable world, while the Path-forger was now working on Mars itself.  
Amethyst and Peridot were out enjoying themselves, the former entrusting Blith and Bismuth to add additional armor plating to Peridot's limb enhancers.  
Vilo was sparring with Garnet, having figured out how to confuse the Fusion's Future Vision by shifting between different random possibilities nonstop, causing Garnet to lose track of her and lose the sparring match. "I honestly did not see that coming." "Future Vision allows you to see the different possibilities for the future, so I figured I'd jump from one to another at random and as fast as I could." "That's what threw me off. Well played."

As suspected by William, Morlax and Lapis were out on a date to FunLand. He didn't watch them, so he just went to the Temple to grab himself something to eat.  
Upon entering, he was greeted by the sound of a vacuum cleaner, and he saw Pearl cleaning up the Warp Pad.  
Upon opening the refrigerator, William heard the sound of the front door opening, immediately followed by Steven's voice. "PEARL, I'M READY TO TALK!" The vacuum was promptly turned off, after which Steven showed Pearl his phone. "I got your text." "Steven, I didn't send that. I haven't used my phone since I put it away this morning." William put the smoked ham back in the fridge and looked at the text. 'I want to tell you, but I can't.' with a monkey emoji at the end of it. "That monkey emoji stands for 'speak-no-evil'. Hmm... Pearl, think you might've telepathically used the phone while it was within your gem?"  
"Pearls have telepathic abilities? Hang on. I'll pull it out and we'll get to the bottom of this. Here." From her gemstone, Pearl pulled out a TV remote, then dropped it upon realizing it wasn't what she was looking for. "I-" A violin was dropped from her gemstone. "This?" A book on advanced avionics. "No. Maybe this?" One of Steven's shirts. "What about this? No!" A wad of cash.  
"Pearl, are you OK?" Steven asked. "Aurg! Where is it?! It's in there somewhere!"

Steven's phone vibrated, meaning another message. "You just sent another one!" The message consisted of only a single hibiscus flower emoji.  
"Steven, I need you to go inside my gem and find my phone." "What?!" "There are certain things I can't tell you, but I CAN tell you I need my phone. Please. I can bring you back out once you find what you're looking for. I'll keep your phone, so you text me with mine when you find it."  
William decided not to get involved with Pearl's inner thoughts or secrets. "I'll stay out here, if that's OK." "Steven's the only one entering my gem anyway." With that, Steven was lifted up by a beam of light from Pearl's gem, then pulled inside.  
"I think I'll go check on the Nephrite crew in the meantime." William then used the Warp Pad to check on the offsite group.

Once he entered the established planetary monitoring station, William was greeted by a very certain Nephrite. "Hi, William!" "Centi!" "Wha...? I... I don't have my personalized identifiers on! How did you know which one I was?!" "You have chip crumbs around your mouth, and you're the only Nephrite I know who actually eats." William stated, gesturing to the bag of Chaaaaps. "Well, you got me there." Centi chuckled. "So, did any of you find the ship used by the late Aquamarine to sneak past the planetary defense plasma cannon array undetected?" William asked. The Nephrite with a visor, named Gazer, turned from the consoles and faced the Emerald. "We managed to locate the vessel, William. Teckno here decided to examine its engines and propulsion systems to figure out how it remained undetected." William faced the Nephrite that wore a sash decorated with various high-tech tools. "I found what looks like a prototype signal emission suppression module. Once I keyed in the encoded frequency, it revealed additional spacefaring contacts. Looks like Homeworld is stepping up their technology. If it got past Emerald tech, then I'm at a loss for words." "Let me see it."  
Teckno handed William the recovered component, allowing him to examine it. "This... This is a combination of Homeworld and Emerald tech. There's no doubt in my mind that this is the work of Thavix." "The Emerald who betrayed her own kind?!" Gazer exclaimed. "It's the only possible explanation as to how a module like this could even exist." "Now that its signature is keyed in, the planetary defense plasma cannon array won't be fooled twice." "That's good. I'd rather not have another total fiasco, or another case of mysteriously missing townspeople." "That I can understand."  
Centi then approached William, handing him an unopened bag of 'Chaaaaps' brand chips. "Snack for the road?" "Oh, thank you. It was great seeing you all again. You can expect more common visits, and... where are the other three?" "Arty's somewhere in this place, expressing herself on a blank canvas. You know how much she loves painting. Sheff has been occupied with trying out a few recipes. The things she makes are pretty good. Botina is... Well, you know her fascination with botany." "Outdoor greenhouse?" "Yeah." "I see." William then pulled out a few small Ziploc bags of various fruit seeds. "I'm sure she'd be thrilled about these." "More seeds! Well, her greenhouse has been a bit... lacking, according to Sheff. I'll get these to her when she isn't busy." "She enjoys tending to the plants? She'll get more enjoyment after she puts those in the soil." "I'll bet." Centi chuckled. "It's always good to see you all." William said as he turned to leave.

Once William returned to the Temple, he started towards the front door, but stopped once he heard Steven's phone.  
Suddenly, Steven was pulled out of Pearl's gem, and he landed on the floor. "I know." The boy's words confused William, who then eyed Pearl. "I wanted to tell you for so long..." "My mom was Pink Diamond."  
"WHAT!?" Amethyst screamed. Garnet was there too, and she was speechless.  
Taking in this new revelation, William was experiencing a few... difficulties. "⏚⎍⏁ ⊑⍜⍙... ⍙⊑⟒⋏... ⍙⊑⊬... ⟟... ⍙⊑⏃⏁... ⍙⊑⟒⍀⟒... ⎍⊑..." He was NOT handling it well. Then again, nobody was. William's physical form began to fluctuate sporadically, unpredictably, and aggressively, and the energy within his gem was reacting, causing him to glow brighter and brighter.  
Just then, William's form dispersed into nothingness, letting out a glass-breaking shockwave, and his gemstone had fallen to the wooden floorboards.

* * *

Well, I think it's safe to assume William couldn't handle it.  
Don't worry. He'll be back.

See you all next time.


End file.
